China is launching its own initiative to set global standards on data security, countering U.S. efforts to persuade like-minded countries to ringfence their networks from Chinese technology.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to announce the initiative on Tuesday at a seminar in Beijing on global digital governance, according to people briefed on the matter.
Given rising risks to data security that require a global solution, “what is pressing now is to formulate global rules and norms that reflect the aspiration and interests of the majority of countries,” said a briefing note on the new initiative that Chinese diplomats provided to foreign counterparts, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Beijing’s initiative comes amid heightened tensions with Washington over issues including trade and technological competition, which has raised the specter of an increasingly bifurcated internet.
