US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Thursday announced a joint Justice Department and Commerce Department “strike force” aimed at preventing US adversaries from attaining American technology.
The Disruptive Technology Strike Force will use intelligence and data analytics, Monaco said in a speech at the policy institute Chatham House in London, to target bad actors around the world, to harden supply chains so that technology won’t be transferred to adversarial nations, and to quickly identify threats to critical American technology.
“Any company doing business in China for that matter is subject to Chinese national security laws, which requires turning over data to the state, and there is a reason we need to be very concerned,” Monaco said.
“The bottom line is that China has been quite clear that they are trying to mold and put forward the use and norms around technology that advance their privilege and their interests,” the deputy attorney general added. “Their interests, which are not consistent with our own. Their interests, which are fueled by and directed toward an authoritarian approach to their government. And that is not consistent with ours.”
Because of those concerns, Monaco said: “I don’t use TikTok, and I would not advise anyone to do so.”
The social media app TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, one of the most valuable private companies in China, has said its Chinese employees do have access to US user data but has denied that the company is influenced by Beijing.
The concern over Chinese technology has come to a head in Washington, particularly over TikTok. US officials have raised concerns that China could use its laws to pressure TikTok to hand over US user…
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