Speaker 1: Hey listeners, this is ting bringing you another fiery edition
Speaker 1: of Beijing Bytes, where I cut through the digital fog
Speaker 1: of the US China tech war with equal parts brain
Speaker 1: and banter. Buckle up. These past two weeks were packed
Speaker 1: with enough cyber drama and policy chests to fill a
Speaker 1: data center. First, let's talk hacking. If you thought Beijing
Speaker 1: cyber actors were lying low, think again. The notorious threat
Speaker 1: group TA four one five DASH, also known as APT
Speaker 1: four one Brass Typhoon or those guys you never sleep,
Speaker 1: has been running a fresh fishing blitz, impersonating none other
Speaker 1: than John Mulina, chair of the US House Select Committee
Speaker 1: on the Strategic Competition with the CCP, and even spoofing
Speaker 1: emails from the US China Business Council. According to Proofpoint,
Speaker 1: these emails, sent in July and August, targeted US government officers,
Speaker 1: think tanks, and academics, all focused on America's China policy
Speaker 1: and trade. The lures closed door briefings, draft legislation collaboration
Speaker 1: offers classic social engineering. The payload not just malware, but
Speaker 1: a slick twist using visual studio code remote tunnels for
Speaker 1: persistent access instead of the usual malware suspects. Proof point
Speaker 1: researchers noted that TA four one five's infrastructure overlaps with
Speaker 1: historical Chinese state linked operations, and let's just say CHANDU
Speaker 1: four zero four network technologies fingerprints are all over this.
Speaker 1: The timing is spicy, writers US China trade talks intensify.
Speaker 1: Beijing cyber warriors are clearly playing for intel dominance, not
Speaker 1: just control. Meanwhile, on the hardware front, the chipwar goes nuclear.
Speaker 1: The US Commerce Department, never shy to flex, just updated
Speaker 1: its entity list to slap export controls on a bunch
Speaker 1: of Chinese tech firms, including the National Time Service Center
Speaker 1: under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics.
Speaker 1: The goal disrupt China's military civil fusion strategy, which aims
Speaker 1: to weave civilian tech prowess into PLA modernization. The Commist
Speaker 1: Department's reasoning these firms are too cozy with the PLA,
Speaker 1: dabbling in everything from quantum computing to AI chips for
Speaker 1: the Chinese military. And let's not forget the biotech angle.
Speaker 1: Several Beijing and Shanghai firms are now under scrutiny for
Speaker 1: allegedly aiding PLA biodefense research. The message from Washington is clear,
Speaker 1: no more blurry lines between China's commercial and military tech ecosystems.
Speaker 1: Beijing isn't just taking punches. China's State Administration for Market
Speaker 1: Regulation fired back by launching an antitrust investigation into Nvidia,
Speaker 1: accusing the American chip giant of anti competitive practices. Details
Speaker 1: are scarce, but the subtext isn't. This is Beijing's regulatory
Speaker 1: CounterPunch to US export controls and a not so subtle
Speaker 1: nudge for Chinese firms to buy local. The chip industry,
Speaker 1: already reeling from US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports, is
Speaker 1: feeling the squeeze. Both sides are a scaling and the
Speaker 1: global tech supply chain is caught in the cross fire.
Speaker 1: Then this TikTok. Remember when this up was the hottest
Speaker 1: potato in U S China relations. Well, after multiple delays,
Speaker 1: the US and China have struck a framework deal to
Speaker 1: keep TikTok alive in America. According to the Economic Times
Speaker 1: and multiple US outlets by Dance will cede control of
Speaker 1: TikTok's US operations to a consortium led by Oracle, Silver
Speaker 1: Lake and Andresen Horowitz with Oracle managing user data on
Speaker 1: American soil. Chinese shareholders keep a minority stake, but the
Speaker 1: board will be mostly American. Wining Tao, deputy director of
Speaker 1: China's Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, confirms both sides have agreed
Speaker 1: on IP and algorithm access, no small feet given Chinese
Speaker 1: export controls on recommendation algorithms. The deal is a messy compromise,
Speaker 1: but for now it kicks the can down the road,
Speaker 1: with the band deadline pushed to December sixteenth. So what
Speaker 1: does all this mean? The tech cold war is hotter
Speaker 1: than ever. The US is betting on export controls and
Speaker 1: entity listings to slow China's military tech rise, while Beijing
Speaker 1: ances with regulatory muscle and cyber espionage etch. The semiconductor
Speaker 1: industry is a casualty, but also a battleground. Every new
Speaker 1: restriction or investigation reshuffles the deck for chip makers, investors,
Speaker 1: and innovators. Cybersecurity is now the invisible front line, with
Speaker 1: both sides probing for weakness in each other's digital infrastructure.
Speaker 1: Looking ahead, expect more tit for tat, more gray zone
Speaker 1: cyber ops, and more eleventh hour deals like tik toks.
Speaker 1: The strategic calculus is simple. Both Washington and Beijing want
Speaker 1: to dominate the technologies that will define the twenty first century.
Speaker 1: For industry players, the messages debrace for volatility, diversify supply chains,
Speaker 1: and invest in resilience. For the rest of us, strap
Speaker 1: in this rivalry will shape everything from your smartphone to
Speaker 1: your national security. Thanks for tuning in to beaiging Bites.
Speaker 1: If you want more sharp takes on the tech tug
Speaker 1: of war, hit subscribe and let me know what you
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