US government not happy with China backdoor plans

The US government is not happy with the Chinese government’s plans to restrict encryption. That measure would oblige US technology companies to hand over encryption keys and build backdoors for the Chinese government.

US President Barack Obama tells Reuters news agency that he has raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jingping. According to Obama, China will have to change its plans if it wants to continue doing business with American companies.

China announced the plans in January. As part of a new anti-terrorism law, companies must hand over encryption keys to the government so law enforcement officers can access user data. To this end, the tech companies should also build backdoors into their servers. In addition, data from Chinese people must be on servers in China, and not outside of it.

According to Obama, the law requires all foreign companies to submit to Chinese government control. “You can imagine that technology companies don’t want that,” Obama says. According to the US president, the plans could also pose a threat to the Chinese economy.