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Tagcybertheft

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China, Cybertheft, and the Ethics of Espionage

All nations spy, but espionage crosses a moral line when it costs normal civilians their jobs.

Earlier this year, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, testified before U.S. Congress as to whether TikTok is being used to spy on or gather information from U.S. citizens (e.g., scouring the periphery of videos or installing tracking apps or malware) or to spread misleading propaganda to skew public opinion. Thus far, there is no definitive evidence that TikTok is being used in this way, but the concern is that it can potentially be used in this way because it is a Chinese company that is inextricably tied to the Chinese government. Chinese law means that all companies, in a sense, work for the Chinese government, meaning their data belongs to Beijing. When Alibaba’s Alipay was able to offer Read More ›

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Spies and Lies: China’s Cyberespionage Is on an Unprecedented Level

Chinese cybertheft is an ever-increasing threat.

There’s “normal” nation-state spying, and then there’s the level of spying that China has engaged in for the last two decades. Using cyber espionage, aerial surveillance, and old-fashioned secret agents, the Chinese government not only conducts espionage for national security reasons, as many nations do, but also engages in intellectual property theft, duplicitous and exploitive partnerships, interference in democratic elections, engaging in international media manipulation, and undermining economic competition. Furthermore, China’s government does this through fear tactics particularly among Chinese nationals living abroad, that are contrary to the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the countries where these nationals live. In October, leaders of the spy agencies that make up the Five-Eyes intelligence alliance — the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Read More ›