Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi calls for cyberspace ‘fairness’, urges Brics, developing nations to oppose tech hegemony
- ‘Cyberspace should be a grand stage for the blossoming of a hundred flowers’, Communist Party foreign affairs chief says in throwback to Mao Zedong
- Meetings with officials from developing nations come a month ahead of Brics leaders’ summit that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to attend
China’s top diplomat has called for “fairness and justice” in cyberspace, urging emerging economies to jointly oppose all attempts at scientific, technological or internet dominance, and prevent the web from being used to foment military one-upmanship or “colour revolutions”.
His use of the “hundred flowers” analogy harked back to Mao Zedong, who used it in 1956 to encourage intellectuals to debate different ideologies in a push for scientific and cultural development
The meeting on cybersecurity included delegates from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the emerging markets giving the informal bloc its name. Representatives of several other countries also attended, including Belarus, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Burundi and Cuba.
Cybersecurity is “a major cornerstone” of national security, Wang said, as he urged developing countries to band together to “resolutely resist an arms race in cyberspace and oppose attempts to use cyberspace to carry out ‘colour revolutions’”.
“We must uphold fairness and justice, oppose any form of scientific and technological hegemony and cyber hegemony, and allow all parties to make the best use of their abilities and take advantage of their needs in an open and inclusive cyberspace,” a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry quoted Wang as saying.
