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97 Foreign Aff. 10 (2018)
When China Rules the Web: Technology in Service of the State

handle is hein.journals/fora97 and id is 850 raw text is: When China Rules the Web Technology in Service of the State Adam Segal F or almost five decades, the United States has guided the growth of the Internet. From its origins as a small Pentagon program to its status as a global platform that connects more than half of the world's population and tens of billions of devices, the Internet has long been an American project. Yet today, the United States has ceded leadership in cyberspace to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping has outlined his plans to turn China into a cyber-superpower. Already, more people in China have access to the Internet than in any other country, but Xi has grander plans. Through domestic regulations, technological innovation, and foreign policy, China aims to build an impreg- nable cyberdefense system, give itself a greater voice in Internet governance, foster more world-class companies, and lead the globe in advanced technologies. China's continued rise as a cyber- superpower is not guaranteed. Top- down, state-led efforts at innovation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and other ambitious technolo- gies may well fail. Chinese technology companies will face economic and political pressures as they globalize. Chinese ADAM SEGAL is Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations. citizens, although they appear to have little expectation of privacy from their government, may demand more from private firms. The United States may reenergize its own digital diplomacy, and the U.S. economy may rediscover the dynamism that allowed it create so much of the modern world's technology. But given Chinas size and technological sophistication, Beijing has a good chance of succeeding-thereby remaking cyber- space in its own image. If this happens, the Internet will be less global and less open. A major part of it will run Chinese applica- tions over Chinese-made hardware. And Beijing will reap the economic, diplo- matic, national security, and intelligence benefits that once flowed to Washington. XI'S VISION Almost from the moment he took power in 2012, Xi made it clear just how big a role the Internet played in his vision for China. After years of inertia, during which cyber-policy was fragmented among a wide array of government departments, Xi announced that he would chair a so-called central leading group on Internet security and informatization and drive policy from the top. He established a new agency, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and gave it responsibility for controlling online content, bolstering cybersecurity, and developing the digital economy. Cyberpower sits at the intersection of four Chinese national priorities. First, Chinese leaders want to ensure a harmo- nious Internet. That means one that guides public opinion, supports good governance, and fosters economic growth but also is tightly controlled so as to stymie political mobilization and prevent the flow of information that could under- mine the regime. 10 FOREIGN AFFAIRS