China security tech expos seize opportunities to guard state secrets
In a flourishing industry, country’s top tech companies showcase latest products to compete for military, police contracts.
At a military equipment expo held in China’s capital last week, it was hard to miss a lavish exhibition area staged by a Beijing company that attracted plenty of interest, including Chinese military personnel dressed in plain clothes, seeking procurement deals.
Advertisement
Among the more prominent vendors was Beijing VRV Software Corporation, which had more than a dozen display boards showcasing the company’s various products, all of which had one thing in common: confidential equipment and technology
Beijing VRV Software is part of a rapidly growing industry that has flourished despite China’s economic slowdown in what Beijing sees as an environment ripe for leaks of key information.
An encrypted office platform called Linkdood, the company claimed, could be used for various communication tasks within the Chinese military, including commanders’ approvals, drone video transmission and even space station logistics management, all without any risk of information leaks.
According to a promotional article published on Wednesday by the Chinese online media outlet Cailian Press, the system had already been used by more than a dozen agencies and all three universities under the highest military decision-making body, the Central Military Commission as well as all five theatre commands of the People’s Liberation Army.
Advertisement
The Cailian Press article said the company’s user base was experiencing “explosive growth”.