Russia and China have been accused of “exploitation” of technology in a war against the free world as the two nations try to force Britain to “become a rule-maker rather than a rule-maker”.
A report from the Committee on Foreign Affairs today warns that foreign powers are “exploiting technological developments to advance their geopolitical agendas”, risking Britain’s lagging behind.
The cross-party Commons commission states that “critical technologies that support our daily lives are becoming increasingly important as arena of systemic competition among nation-states”.
Liam Byrne MP, a Labor committee member, said: “What we need to do is ensure that Britain is not the weak link in the defense of the Western alliance.
“China is building a digital Silk Road around the world. And there are very real concerns about how China will exfiltrate data and technology to provide the power its leaders aspire to by 2030.”
The committee’s report also calls on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to “fundamentally rethink the ways it works with Britain’s allies to prevent hostile foreign powers from stealing British expertise and intellectual property for their own ends.” judge”.
“If we don’t adapt, it will have devastating consequences for our security, prosperity and global influence,” the report said.
If Britain does not go to extremes and strengthens the Foreign Office to help protect British industry and strategic interests, the committee believes there is a serious risk that Britain will also become another leader in the crucial field of international affairs. norms and norms.
The Foreign Affairs Committee’s warning follows an unprecedented joint statement earlier this week by the minds of MI5 and the FBI† They warned that China is trying to “establish norms and standards that would enable it to dominate the international order”.
Ken McCallum, director general of the security agency, said on Wednesday: “Clandestine espionage methodology is not always necessary. Take the story of Smith’s Harlow, a UK-based precision engineering company.”
The Chinese company Futures Aerospace approached Smiths in 2017 about a possible merger. However, after completing an initial £3 million technology transfer and training deal, the Chinese withdrew, causing Smith’s shell to collapse into administration in early 2020.
Research by the Carnegie Endowment, a US think tank, found in December that US companies “felt threatened by the way China is mobilizing around standardization”.
The ruling Communist Party of China has made clear its intentions with the publication of a strategy titled China Standards 2035. It calls on China to influence future global industry standards for technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. – a term used for sensors in everything from shipping containers to wind farms.
Meanwhile, China’s industrial advantage has accelerated the path of the West. For example, Huawei has more than 6,000 patents on technology used in 5G mobile phones. The Shenzhen-headquartered company has begun using Western courts to enforce its intellectual property rights, and last year settled a high-profile US patent infringement lawsuit against mobile network Verizon.
Huawei has been accused for decades of basing its core business of computer networking equipment on stolen intellectual property. Cisco Systems’ general counsel, Mark Chandler, accused Huawei CEO Charles Ding in 2012 of trying to cover up a company admission that it had illegally copied Cisco’s source code into one of its product lines.
Meanwhile, China-focused commentators have begun to warn that the West is in danger of falling behind as state-run companies seek greater control over global standards.
“Companies need to be prepared to lose market share and become increasingly dependent on Chinese digital solutions,” Shawn Kim, senior analyst at Morgan Stanley, wrote in 2021 for the South China Morning Post.
The FCDO has been contacted for comment.