Chinese Cybersecurity and Cyberdefense

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China’s Internet Development and Cybersecurity – Policies and Practices

1.1. Introduction

After land, sea, air and outer space, many people have dubbed cyberspace as the fifth domain for human activities, with multiple implications for a state. Put simply, the political, economic and security interests of a state are now increasingly connected with cybersecurity. However, the Internet is a double-edged sword, i.e. it brings about not only enormous benefits but also numerous risks, challenges and threats. Therefore, given the borderless, transnational and unique nature of cyberspace, it has become a new frontier for global governance.

China attaches great importance to Internet development and has made enormous progress in this regard. However, as a late comer to this field, China faces various challenges and has been one of the major victims of cyber-attacks. Looking into the future, China is willing to strive for a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace together with the international community.

Internationally, there are many doubts about China’s policies and practices in its Internet development because of misunderstanding, prejudice, lack of knowledge, and even ignorance one the one hand. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for understanding China’s policies and practices in this domain. This chapter tries to introduce some of China’s cyber policies and practices with a view to mitigating the doubts towards China.

This chapter is divided into six sections: ...