China has issued a ban on all foreign computer equipment affecting its government offices and public establishments. The country has given a three-year deadline for the removal of these computers as reported by the Financial Times.
This government-imposed mandate is expected to cause a significant blow to multinational companies in the United States. Dell, Microsoft, and HP to name a few. Similar attempts have been ordered in Washington as the US government ordered to limit the use of technology coming from China. This issue comes amid the trade war between the two countries that has now developed into a tech cold war.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration has banned companies in America from transacting with Huawei — a Chinese telecommunications company. Following this memorandum, Google, Qualcomm, and Intel have announced that they would discontinue cooperation with Huawei.
The Trump administration’s move to exclude China from western tech intelligence signifies that the two economic superpowers are battling for the technological edge. Something that is expected to ensue over the next two decades.
China’s instructions is the first known public mandate ordered from Beijing that specifically targets limiting the country’s use of foreign tech. The move, in part, belongs is part of a bigger picture — the country’s goal to push for domestic tech reliance.
Analysts say the order was sent out by the central office of the Chinese Communist Party earlier this year.
China’s Global Times newspaper editor Hu Xijin, previously shared his sentiments on the trade wars on Twitter writing: “Chinese people will no longer have any illusions about the steady use of US technology.