Donald Trump and other officials who accompanied him on the China trip entered the country with no personal phones. The President arrived in China on May 13 to hold talks with President Xi Jinping on trade, AI, nuclear weapons, the Iran war, and more. This is also the first visit of an American President to China in a decade.
Donald Trump’s China visit comes with digital lockdown
According to a report by Fox News, Donald Trump and his security personnel and other officials entered China after surrendering their phones.
The reason for this, as the outlet suggests, is to create a strong, impenetrable cyber environment. Moreover, the officials do so to lower the risk of their devices getting hacked, which also prevents them from getting under surveillance. It is stated that the US government believes that any device, be it phones, laptops, or more, is compromised once it enters China, given the two countries’ past relations.
Thus, as a precautionary measure, the officials choose to ditch their devices and communicate through encrypted channels or in person. Additionally, the government believes that charging devices in China could harm security.
Commenting on these concerns, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, told Fox News that China places the utmost importance on personal privacy and that it is “protected by law.” He added that the government prioritizes “protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law.” Pengyu asserted that the Chinese government will never require or store data, as that is against the law.
Trump is on a visit to China with the CEOs of companies like Nvidia, Boeing, Apple, and more. According to the Guardian, he spoke in Beijing about his meeting with Chinese officials and said, “We had extremely positive and productive conversations and meetings today with the Chinese delegation earlier, and this evening is another cherished opportunity to discuss among friends some of the things that we discussed today.”
Originally reported by Ishita Verma on Mandatory.
