The Epoch Times (May 5) reported that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is implementing
a “Safety and Reliability Alliance Program.” The authorities urged all government, state-owned
enterprises, and institutions to hand over all of their current computers and replace them with
domestic computers and systems. The reason is to “prevent foreign forces from stealing
China’s data.” On May 4, some Chinese netizens posted that their working units were urged to
turn in their old computers after May 1 and replace them with new computers and systems
made in China. Since that system is not compatible with Windows software, a Windows
emulator has to be installed. That will result in a 10-year regression in office efficiency. A
netizen from a city in western Henan Province responded that his city has already replaced
their computers with all Hikvision computers, which cost more than 9,000 yuan (RMB, or
$1,360) each. The new computers are very difficult to use and have very little software. In
addition, the authorities require that all units in China finish the replacement within two years.
Hikvision is a Chinese video surveillance equipment manufacturer. The British Financial
Times reported on May 4 that the United States is moving to impose sanctions on Hikvision.
The U.S. accused it of facilitating the CCP’s internal crackdown. Concerning the CCP’s
authorities forcing enterprises and institutions to use domestic computers, some netizens said
it might be related to the ” Safety and Reliability Alliance,” and is probably because of its fear
of U.S. sanctions. According to public information, the predecessor of the “Safety and
Reliability Alliance” was the “Working Committee on Information Technology Application
and Innovation,” which was established in 2016. On January 9, 2019, it was officially changed
to the China Electronics Industry Standardization Technology Association — Safety and
Reliability Working Committee, that includes 14 categories of members, with a total of 180
member units. It’s aim is to “nationalize and automatize control.” The CCP is promoting the
“Safety and Reliability Alliance” to prevent possible sanctions from the United States and
Europe. The authorities require some special enterprises to realize “nationalized substitution”
in 2022. In particular, all provincial governments, important municipal governments, the
financial sector, and the military sector are gradually making replacements with nationalized facilities. The “Safety and Reliability Alliance” is considered a trillion-dollar market that
involves a huge industrial chain. It is expected that 40 million computers will be replaced
domestically in China.
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