Adding to a long list of reasons why Microsoft acquiring TikTok would not remedy concerns over the app’s subservience to the Chinese Communist Party, the American tech giant built a version of its popular “Windows” operating system for use by the Chinese government in 2015.
According to the company’s press release:
“China Electronics Technology Group (CETC) and Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership aimed at providing world-class operating system technology and services for Chinese users in specialized fields in government institutions and critical infrastructure state-owned enterprises.”
The statement fails to mention, however, that state-owned CETC has been identified by the U.S. Department of Defense as collaborating with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) since at least 1999.
CETC was also recently targetted by the Trump administration for its role building military islands in the South China Sea, with the Commerce Department adding the company to its “Entity List.” Originally created to stop American products from assisting weapons of mass destruction programs in 1997, the designation makes companies subject to stricter licensing requirements to do business in the U.S…
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