China’s State Media Urges “Severe Punishment” for US Tech Firms

Chinese state media lashed out at Google, Apple and other US technology companies, calling on Beijing “to punish severely the pawns” of the US government for monitoring China and stealing secrets. US companies such as Yahoo, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Facebook threaten the cyber-security of China and its Internet users, said the People’s Daily on its microblog, in comments echoed on the front page of the English-language China Daily.

It is not clear what sparked this latest round of vitriol, nor what information the US firms are alleged to have stolen. But Chinese media have repeatedly attacked American tech companies for aiding the US government’s cyber espionage since US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden revealed widespread spying programs including PRISM. Under PRISM, the NSA seized data from companies such as Google and Apple, according to revelations made by Snowden in 2013.

Chinese state-owned firms have since begun dispensing with the services of US companies such as IBM, Oracle and Cisco in flavor of domestic technology. As a result, Snowden’s revelations may cost US companies billions of dollars, analysts say. “US companies including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. are all coordinating with the PRISM program to monitor China,” the People’s Daily wrote. “To resist the naked Internet hegemony, we will draw up international regulations, and strengthen technology safeguards, but we will also severely punish the pawns of the villain."