US ups pressure on China to nix ‘troubling’ cybersecurity rules

The U.S. government is stepping up pressure on China to reconsider proposed cybersecurity rules that would require foreign tech firms to let Beijing officials examine their technology.

“The rules aren’t about security,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a statement. “They are about protectionism and favoring Chinese companies. The administration is aggressively working to have China walk back from these troubling regulations.”

{mosads}The new regulations have become the most recent point of contention in an increasingly strained partnership between the U.S. and China on cybersecurity issues.

U.S. and European trade groups have appealed to their governments to work with the Chinese on altering or nixing the rules altogether.

Friday’s comments were the most direct and public stance Washington has taken on the issue thus far.

The new regulations “go directly against a series of China’s bilateral and multilateral trade commitments,” Froman said. “For example, the rules would require technology transfer and use of domestic Chinese intellectual property as a precondition for market access — both of which China has committed not to do.”

A U.S. official also told The Wall Street Journal that the administration had previously sent a letter to Chinese officials expressing worries about the upcoming rules, which are set to go in effect by April 1.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew all signed on to the letter.