Beijing orders removal of foreign computer equipment from government offices

Measure aims to reduce China’s reliance on foreign technology and counter US tech restrictions

A parade commemorating 70th anniversary of communist China A parade commemorating 70th anniversary of communist China (AP photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Government offices and public institutions in China have been ordered to replace foreign computers and software within three years, Financial Times reported on Monday (Dec. 9).

Dubbed as the “3-5-2” directive, the policy will see 30 percent of approximately 20-30 million items of hardware and software removed in 2020, 50 percent in 2021, and 20 percent in 2022. This is the first publicly known guideline aimed at decreasing China’s reliance on foreign technologies, the report said.

The move, which is likely to deal a blow to U.S. companies Dell and Microsoft, is regarded as a countermeasure to the restrictions imposed by Washington earlier this year on trade between American companies and Chinese tech giant Huawei, wrote The Guardian. In May, multinationals like Intel, Qualcomm, and Google announced they would sever ties with Huawei.

While it is viable to phase out foreign brand computers, analysts cast doubt on the possibility of swapping software with China’s own products. Most software developers make products compatible with U.S.-made operating systems, for example Apple’s macOS and Microsoft’s Windows, Financial Times suggested.

It could also prove a challenge to determine whether a product is made in China. Despite the fact that government offices like to use desktop computers from the Chinese-owned company Lenovo, its processor chips and hard drives are mostly manufactured by American or South Korean companies.