CHINA WATCHChina's Digital Silk Road Exports Internet Technology, Controls
A Chinese initiative known as the “Digital Silk Road” is helping Southeast Asian nations modernize their digital landscapes. But rights groups say Beijing is also exporting its model of authoritarian governance of the internet through censorship, surveillance and controls.
A Chinese initiative known as the “Digital Silk Road” is helping Southeast Asian nations modernize their digital landscapes. But rights groups say Beijing is also exporting its model of authoritarian governance of the internet through censorship, surveillance and controls.
China’s state media recently announced Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group jointly built its first overseas 5G factory in Thailand with Thai mobile operator AIS, Chinese telecom service provider China Unicom and tech giant Huawei.
The 208,000-square-meter smart factory will have its own 5G network, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier in May, Beijing reached an agreement with Cambodia to establish a Digital Law Library of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. Cambodia’s Khmer Times said it aims to “expand all-round cooperation in line with the strategic partnership and building a common destiny community.”
But parallel to China’s state media-promoted technology investments, rights groups say Beijing is also helping countries in the region to build what they call “digital authoritarian governance.”
Article 19, an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting freedom of expression globally and named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in an April report said the purpose of the Digital Silk Road is not solely to promote China’s technology industry. The report, China: The rise of digital repression in the Indo-Pacific, says Beijing is also using its technology to reshape the region’s standards of digital freedom and governance to increasingly match its own.
In response to the Article 19 accusation, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, told VOA in an emailed statement, “Regarding Digital Silk Road, the Chinese government is willing to work with all parties to promote the construction of it and share the dividends of digital economic development. China hopes to deepen cooperation on digital technology innovation, strengthen digital cultural exchanges and mutual understanding, and work with all parties to create a set of digital governance rules, so as to bring the construction of a cyberspace community with a shared future to a new stage.”
Looking at case studies of Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand, the Article 19 report says Beijing is spreading China’s model of digital governance along with Chinese technology and investments from companies such as Huawei, ZTE and Alibaba.
