Business associations from the US, Japan and Europe on Monday told Chinese officials they still have “strong concerns” about bank information technology rules and urged Beijing to formally suspend them.
The joint letter, from 31 trade associations, increases pressure over rules pushing China’s state-owned banks to buy technology from domestic vendors, which the US trade office has said could breach China’s international trade commitments.
The “buy domestic” rule is one of several recent moves by China that have antagonized the US and its top technology companies, including a draft anti-terrorism law assailed by US President Barack Obama last month.
The groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, the European Services Forum and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the rules and other policies discriminate against foreign providers of Internet, and information and communications technology (ICT) products, solutions and services.
A senior US Department of the Treasury official said on March 30 that China had agreed to suspend implementation of the rules, but the groups — which include organizations representing companies like Apple Inc, International Business Machines Corp, Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp and Google Inc — said banks were continuing to implement the rules.
“We therefore urge the Chinese leadership to officially suspend implementation of the guidelines through a written public notice, publicize them as a proposal and initiate a formal public consultation consistent with China’s international obligations,” the letter said, addressed to the Chinese Communist Party Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs.
The groups said they were also concerned about similar initiatives in the telecommunications sector and a broad review of cybersecurity, asking that companies and foreign governments be consulted.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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