China’s anti-terrorism law ‘won’t affect US tech firms’

China moved to calm fears over its anti-terrorism law today by saying that it will not affect network operators.

“It [the anti-terrorism law] will be used only for anti-terrorism purposes and for investigations,” said Fu Ying, spokeswoman of the National People’s Congress.

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“Only public security agencies will be involved and it will be subject to stringent approval procedures,” Fu told today's press conference before the opening of China’s NPC.

“It will not affect the interests of network operators … The US and Britain also have similar requirements.”

Obama had previously expressed concerns about Beijing’s plans for a far-reaching counterterrorism law that would require technology companies to hand over encryption keys – the passcodes that help protect data – and install security “backdoors” in their systems to give Chinese authorities surveillance access.

“This is something I’ve raised directly with President Xi,” Obama said. “We have made it very clear this is something they are going to have to change if they are to do business with [us].”