United States Attorney General William Barr speaks about the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Washington, DC.
Michael Brochstein | Barcroft Media | Reuters
In a general speech Thursday, United States Attorney General William Barr criticized American tech giants Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple and Cisco, as well as Hollywood, for being “very willing to collaborate with the Communist Party Chinese”.
“The People’s Republic of China is now engaging in an economic blitz, an aggressive, orchestrated, government-wide campaign to take advantage of the dominant heights of the global economy and overtake the United States as the world’s pre-eminent superpower,” Barr said during A speech at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Too often, for the sake of short-term profit, American companies have succumbed to that influence, even at the expense of freedom and openness in the United States,” he said, calling American technology companies “influence pawns. China”.
In his comments, Barr criticized US technology companies like Cisco for helping the Communist Party build “the Great Firewall of China,” which he described as the “world’s most sophisticated system for Internet surveillance and censorship.”
In an e-mailed statement to CNBC, Cisco said it “does not supply equipment to China that is customized in any way to facilitate blocking access or surveillance of users.”
“The products we supply to China are the same as those we offer worldwide, and we fully comply with all applicable export control standards for China, including those related to human rights,” added Cisco.
As for Apple, Barr rebuked the company’s decision to transfer part of its iCloud data to servers located in China, saying the move would make it easier for the Chinese government to access emails, text messages and other user information. stored in the cloud. He accused the company of removing the Quartz news app from the app store in China after the Chinese government complained about coverage of democracy protests in Hong Kong. He also briefly evaded his prepared remarks to tear Apple apart for failing to cooperate with US authorities investigating a deadly domestic terrorist case.
The Justice Department had previously asked Apple to help extract data from two iPhones that belonged to the gunman, who was linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
“For four and a half months we tried to get in without Apple’s help,” he said, adding that US authorities “were finally able to get in by chance that we won’t be able to reproduce in the future.”
In an emailed statement to CNBC, Apple reiterated its commitment to cybersecurity and its “secure encryption on our devices and servers” offers.
“Our products help our Chinese customers to communicate, learn, express their creativity and exercise their ingenuity. We believe in the critical importance of an open society in which information flows freely, and we are convinced that the best way to continue promoting the Openness is to remain committed even when we do not agree with the laws of a country, “the statement continued.
Google declined to comment on Barr’s remarks.
The company has not operated search in China since 2010, but employees pressured it to abandon its plans to launch a new search product in China in 2018. At a hearing that year, CEO Sundar Pichai told Congress that Google “had no plans” when it came to launching such a service.
A Yahoo spokesperson declined to comment, and a Microsoft representative did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Barr also pointed to Hollywood in his comments.
Barr also pointed to Hollywood companies, including Disney, saying they routinely “bowed” to Chinese censorship demands.
“Hollywood actors, producers, and directors take pride in celebrating freedom and the human spirit. And every year at the Academy Awards, Americans receive lectures on how this country fails to meet Hollywood’s ideals of social justice. But Hollywood now regularly censors its own movies to appease the Chinese Communist Party, “Barr said.
The head of the Justice Department added that Paramount Pictures told movie producers working on the movie “World War Z” to remove a scene where the characters speculate that a virus, which triggered a zombie apocalypse, may have originated. in China.
“Many more scripts never come to light because writers and producers know they shouldn’t test limits. Chinese government censors don’t need to say a word because Hollywood is doing its job for them. This is a massive propaganda coup for the Chinese Communist Party, “Barr said.
Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Sharpening his focus on Disney, Barr said the entertainment company pushed hard to regain access to the Chinese market after the government banned all of its movies.
“Disney began courting the People’s Republic of China to open a $ 5.5 billion theme park in Shanghai. As part of that deal, Disney agreed to give Chinese government officials a role in management. From the 11,000 employees to Full-time in the park, 300 are active members of the Communist Party, “Barr stressed, saying he believes” Walt Disney would be discouraged to see how the company he founded deals with foreign dictatorships today. “
Disney did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Barr’s comments represent another brick in the ruined building that is the relationship of Washington and Beijing. The world’s two largest economies are struggling to repair trade relations, and the theft of intellectual property has proven to be a major point of conflict. The Trump administration has also previously blamed China for the health crisis caused by the coronavirus.
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