Lokman Tsui on Sun, 26 Aug 2001 11:42:55 +0200 (CEST) |
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[Nettime-nl] Fw: [chineseinternetresearch] Ironies of power? |
> US defence chief helped Beijing keep cyber secrets > > Judy Mathewson and Eugene Tang, Bloomberg > > > > > WASHINGTON: Soon after becoming US Defence Secretary in January, > Donald Rumsfeld sold a stake in a partnership that helped finance an > operating system designed to protect Chinese computers from spying and > sabotage. > > Mr Rumsfeld's investment in Chengwei Ventures Fund I - valued at > between US$250,000 (HK$1.95 million) and US$500,000 - was one of his 29 > non-publicly traded holdings earmarked by US ethics officials as > requiring disposal to avoid conflicts of interest, documents obtained > under a freedom of information request showed. > > Chengwei was an investment partnership with financial connections to > Chinese leaders, including the son of President Jiang Zemin, through > mutual investments in Shanghai-based Red Flag Software. That company > created the operating system, Red Flag Linux, in part to frustrate > suspected US computer spying. > > > China's State Council has asked government departments to use > Chinese-language Red Flag Linux, which is based on the free Linux > operating system. Microsoft programs are used in many agencies. > > ``Some government organisations that controlled state secrets before > had no choice but to use foreign software,'' Red Flag chairman Sun > Yufang said. ``We are mainly concerned that foreign software ... has > back doors'' that allow intruders to enter computers covertly. > > > China, like the US, has devoted increasing resources to so-called > information warfare, the ability to defend against attacks on one's own > computers while being able to assault data in the computers of > adversaries. > > In his seven months in office, Mr Rumsfeld has made information warfare > a Pentagon priority. ``Our dependence on computer-based information > networks makes those networks attractive targets for new forms of > cyber-attack,'' he told the Senate Armed Services Committee on June > 21. US analysts have cited China's progress in the field, with some > Pentagon officials calling Beijing's defences ``the Great Firewall of > China''. > > > A secure operating system is crucial to an information-warfare strategy, > said Jonathan Winer, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for > international law enforcement, and Red Flag Linux may give China ``the > robust ability to protect itself from US dominance in a conflict''. > > Mr Rumsfeld declined to be interviewed, but his financial adviser, > whom the Pentagon made available to answer questions on the condition > the adviser couldn't be named, said the defence secretary was a passive > investor in San Francisco-based Chengwei, with limited knowledge > about how its money was used. > > After Mr Rumsfeld was confirmed as defence secretary in January, he > moved to sell his Chengwei interest to another partner, the adviser > said. The adviser declined to give the date of the sale, to identify > the buyer or to disclose the price. He said the partner who bought the > stock lives in the US and the stake was sold before April's spy plane > saga. > > Chengwei was created last year to invest in Internet- and > computer-related Chinese companies, said co-founder Eric Li. > > It has a 20 per cent stake in Red Flag Software, which President Jiang > Zemin's son, Jiang Mianheng, helped set up two years ago. Chengwei's > other founder, Bo Feng, is a son of National People's Congress standing > committee member Feng Zhijun. > > 25 August 2001 / 03:13 AM > > http://hk-imail.com/inews/public/frontpage_v.cfm?intcatid=2 ______________________________________________________ * Verspreid via nettime-nl. Commercieel gebruik niet * toegestaan zonder toestemming. <nettime-nl> is een * open en ongemodereerde mailinglist over net-kritiek. * Meer info, archief & anderstalige edities: * http://www.nettime.org/. * Contact: Menno Grootveld (rabotnik@xs4all.nl).