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Liu Zhen

China’s military has raised the alarm about the country’s cutting-edge tech falling into foreign hands – as Beijing continues to come under fire from the West for forcing firms to hand over the keys to their intellectual property.
The fears were highlighted in a comment piece in the People’s Liberation Army’s China National Defence News on Monday, which suggested that China needed to erect intellectual property rights barriers around its advances, just as the West had long done so against China.
Supercomputer superpower China takes biggest lead over US in 25 years
It said that over several generations China had made many breakthroughs in scientific research but those gains could end up in foreign hands and threaten national security if they were not protected.
“We must work on protecting technology as much as we have on researching and developing it,” the commentary said.

It said China needed to protect big-ticket indigenous developments in areas such as supercomputers, drones, dredgers and rocket launch simulation technology. 
Many advanced technologies were developed and owned by the private sector and the regulations had not kept up with the national security implications, the commentary said.
Nine ways Chinese scientists pushed the envelope in 2017
“There have been dangerous cases involving some privately owned companies, research institutions and individuals in pursuit of economic interests or academic honour,” it said.
“Our intellectual property protection still lags that in countries with strong IPR protections, and we must work fast to close the gap.”
The warning comes as governments and business groups in the United States and the European Union have accused China of forcing foreign firms to transfer technology in exchange for market access.


China was the leading filer of international patents in 2016, accounting for 38 per cent of that year’s total, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Launch of Beijing’s new dredger may spark concerns of renewed island building in South China Sea
And although outbound technology transfers were still a small part of China’s exports, domestic military and internet-related intellectual property was growing in importance, one military analyst said.
“China has become aware of the security issue in military technology exports in the last few years,” Beijing-based military commentator Zhou Chenming said. “For example, restrictions on exports of high-performance drones have been in place since 2015.”

Last year, China also limited overseas sales of the large cutter-suction dredgers used to build artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. 
How China’s cutting-edge drones are transforming the nation
At the time, the Ministry of Commerce said selling such vessels to other countries could have a “significant impact on national security”.

Zhen Qinggui, an intellectual property law specialist at law firm Zhonglun W&D, said there were already rules and security processes covering technology transfer, especially for state-sponsored research projects and sensitive developments such as nuclear and missile technology. 
Fast work as China’s giant radio telescope makes early discoveries
But there were national security implications for an ever wider range of advanced technologies. 
“The next step might be for the State Council and relevant departments to come up with more detailed regulations and to set up new standards and review processes,” Zhen said. 


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China boosts intellectual property protection – for its own tech at least

Generations of Chinese advances could be lost ‘if the country doesn’t protect its intellectual property’

(160620) -- WUXI, June 20, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on June 20, 2016 shows Sunway TaihuLight, a new Chinese supercomputer, in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province. Performing 93 quadrillion calculations per second, Sunway TaihuLight dethroned China's Tianhe-2 from the top in a list of the 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world. Sunway TaihuLight, with 10,649,600 computing cores comprising 40,960 nodes, is twice as fast and three times as efficient as Tianhe-2, which has a performance of 33.86 quadrillion calculations per second, or petaflop/s. The new system was developed by the Chinese National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology and installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) (lfj)

Chiuna launched the world's most advanced and biggest dredger Tai Kun Hao on 3 November, which can be used in the South China Sea. 3NOV17. Photo: CHINANEWS

Photo taken on Sept. 7, 2016 shows the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. The FAST, world's largest radio telescope, is expected to be put into operation at the end of September. (Xinhua/Liu Xu) (wyl)

China has had restrictions on exports of high-performance drones since 2015, according to one military analyst. Photo: Dickson Lee

Supercomputer superpower China takes biggest lead over US in 25 years

The Sunway TaihuLight has come out top again in a test of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Photo: Xinhua

The Tianhe-2 can perform 33,860 trillion calculations a second, but it will not have much chance to run at full working capacity. Photo: Xinhua

How China’s cutting-edge drones are transforming the nation

A drone sprays pesticide on to a field in Jixian, northern China’s Shanxi province. Photo: Xinhua

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATN. DRONE14. UNDATED HANDOUT

(170715) -- AN AIRPORT IN HEBEI, July 15, 2017 (Xinhua) -- The mass-production model of China's unmanned aerial vehicle CH-5, or "Caihong (Rainbow) 5", prepares to take off during its trial flight in north China's Hebei Province, July 14, 2017. Introduced at an international airshow in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai last year, the CH-5 can conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, patrol, target positioning and strike missions, according to its developer. (Xinhua/Bai Guolong) (ry)

(170425) -- JIXIAN, April 25, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Captain of the flying team checks drones before taking off in Jixian County, north China's Shanxi Province, April 25, 2017. Over 50,000 mu (3,333 hectares) of apple trees will be sprayed pesticide with drones this year. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) (dhf)

(170425) -- JIXIAN, April 25, 2017 (Xinhua) -- A farmer looks at a drone spraying pesticide in his field in Jixian County, north China's Shanxi Province, April 25, 2017. Over 50,000 mu (3,333 hectares) of apple trees will be sprayed pesticide with drones this year. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) (dhf)

Fire Services Department (FSD) demonstrate to the media their newly equipmentat at Fire and Ambulance Services Academy, Tseung Kwan O. 23JAN17 SCMP/Nora Tam

A drone operated by paramilitary police flies over the site of last week's explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, August 17, 2015. Many operations have resumed at China's Tianjin port, trade sources said, after explosions last week that killed more than 100 people and disrupted business at what is an important oil, gas and bulk import harbor for Asia's biggest economy. The explosions on Aug. 12 led to the disruption of all chemical and oil tanker discharges at the port, and imports of iron ore were also affected. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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China

Diplomacy

Generations of Chinese advances could be lost ‘if the country doesn’t protect its intellectual property’


China’s military has raised the alarm about the country’s cutting-edge tech falling into foreign hands – as Beijing continues to come under fire from the West for forcing firms to hand over the keys to their intellectual property


Science

Intellectual property in China