China’s Communist Party is using state money and political influence to play a dominant role in various cutting-edge technologies such as telecommunications, power transmission and artificial intelligence by trying to define norms for these areas, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday on its website.
Industrial standards set by the U.S. and its allies over decades have created an invisible system of norms that underpin the global market, the report said. As mundane as it sounds, this uniformity is critical to international trade, ensuring that bolts, USB plugs and shipping containers can all be used interchangeably around the globe. The standard reflects the consensus of an international committee long dominated by Western technical experts.
The report also said Beijing is using state funds and political influence to try to define norms for a variety of cutting-edge technologies such as telecommunications, power transmission and artificial intelligence.
The report’s analysis says the Communist Party’s efforts are motivated by a desire to surpass the West on the one hand, and a desire to reap profits on the other. Standards based on patented technologies often require users to pay licensing fees.
The issue of standards is becoming increasingly urgent as rules are being finalized for many of the new generation of technologies that rely on 5G networks. Such new technologies include driverless cars, smart cities and the Internet of Things, advances that will connect the digital and real worlds to an unprecedented degree, with greater implications for national security than ever before.
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