Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek early this year launched a new model to much fanfare internationally, but the company’s technological breakthroughs did not come from independent research and development, they relied on the technological achievements accumulated by the US and other Western countries.
As early as 2017, the Chinese government proposed a plan for a “new generation of AI,” with the goal of becoming a global leader in the technology by 2030. This is not only about tech competition, but also an important step for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to achieve “digital totalitarianism.”
Chinese companies use AI to monitor the nation’s people and bolster censorship at home. They promote Chinese-made AI technology abroad through large-scale subsidies and low bidding, coercing developing countries into dependence on Chinese technology and expanding the CCP’s digital authoritarian influence.
Last year, the CCP proposed a global AI governance initiative to promote its censorship system and surveillance technology internationally in the name of “responsible AI,” which is tantamount to asking the world to accept an AI version of its social credit system.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) has said that China is willing to cooperate with other countries to develop AI and help developing countries benefit from “the intelligence dividend,” but such support often comes with control over data and monopoly of infrastructure.
Under Beijing’s Digital Silk Road initiative, Chinese companies provide AI technology and surveillance systems in Africa and Southeast Asia, but transmit local data back to China and use technical barriers to tie the countries into China’s digital ecosystem, endangering national security and tying recipient countries to Beijing.
Nations should be wary of China’s use of AI technology to expand its authoritarian influence. They should bolster protections of intellectual property to prevent technological innovators from being defeated by China’s theft and subsidy strategies.
Ryan Xu is a freelancer.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
With the Year of the Snake reaching its conclusion on Monday next week, now is an opportune moment to reflect on the past year — a year marked by institutional strain and national resilience. For Taiwan, the Year of the Snake was a composite of political friction, economic momentum, social unease and strategic consolidation. In the political sphere, it was defined less by legislative productivity and more by partisan confrontation. The mass recall movement sought to remove 31 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators following the passage of controversial bills that expanded legislative powers and imposed sweeping budget cuts. While the effort
When Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced newspaper owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英) to 20 years in prison this week, officials declared that his “heinous crimes” had long poisoned society and that his punishment represented justice restored. In their telling, Lai is the mastermind of Hong Kong’s unrest — the architect of a vast conspiracy that manipulated an otherwise contented population into defiance. They imply that removing him would lead to the return of stability. It is a politically convenient narrative — and a profoundly false one. Lai did not radicalize Hong Kong. He belonged to the same generation that fled from the Chinese
There is a story in India about a boy called Prahlad who was an ardent worshipper of Lord Narayana, whom his father considered an enemy. His son’s devotion vexed the father to the extent that he asked his sister, Holika, who could not be burned by fire, to sit with the boy in her lap and burn him to death. Prahlad knew about this evil plan, but sat in his aunt’s lap anyway. His faith won, as he remained unscathed by the fire, while his aunt was devoured by the flames. In some small way, Prahlad reminds me of Taiwan
Former Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who on Monday was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the 2019 Hong Kong democracy movement and “colluding with foreign forces,” once called on members of the US government for support in his struggle against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Speaking to a forum at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in July 2019, Lai, speaking about the US having the moral authority over the CCP, said: “It’s like they are going to battle without any weapon, and you have the nuclear weapon. You can finish them in
RSS