Over the last few years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken a number of steps to promote the concept of cyber-sovereignty. The World Internet Conference (WIC), now in its fourth year, has been used by the CCP as a key platform for advocating cyber-sovereignty. The WIC has also seen the signing of several important agreements and aims to be recognised as the ‘Internet Davos’. More recently, the CCP has revamped the Cyber-security Law (as on 1st July 2017) and has brought domestic companies (Tencent, Baidu and Sina) under investigation for cyber-security violations. In the backdrop of these developments, this occasional paper seeks to decode the Chinese vision for cyber-sovereignty.Ranjani Srinivasan: Ranjani Srinivasan is a student at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras. She is currently in her third year of the Integrated Master of Arts Program (English Studies). Her interests lie in international relations theory, Chinese foreign policy and the Chinese cyberspace. She is a trained classical music vocalist and enjoys reading and writing.
Contents Acknowledgements Preface Foreword Introduction
Existing Global Internet Order: Who Governs the Internet? China’s Preference for Multilateralism in Cyber Space Governance4 Cyber Sovereignty and Cyber Security:
An Important Link in Internet Governance – Encryption – Intellectual Property Rights – Data Localisation – Hacking and Other Cyber Attacks Other Modes of Information Control: Curbing Academic Freedom China and Other International Organisations on the Topic of Cyber Space India and Cyber Sovereignty: Problems and Prospects Apple in China: A Brief Case Study on How the American MNC Operates in China What Lies Ahead: An Assessment of the Impact of Cyber Sovereignty – Digital Silk Road: A Marriage of Economy with Technology – Cyber Security Challenges to Military Security Conclusion: Making the Cyber Space More Conducive to Progress
