China may investigate three major technology companies in the United States

On August 19, according to foreign media reports, Chinese government agencies stated that they will investigate the three major US technology companies on security issues.

This sounds like a bridge of self-eating, but it is by no means accidental. Everyone may think of the U.S. government’s precautions against China’s state-owned network equipment giant Huawei. Both the congressional committee and the Obama administration expressed concern about Huawei, saying that some U.S. government agencies have not yet approved the use of Huawei devices because these devices may be used by the Chinese government for espionage activities.

The U.S.’s multiple security reviews against Huawei ultimately proved to be nothing, but the U.S. government has not given a final conclusion. Huawei insists that the company's equipment is safe and reliable, and the company is not a government spy tool.

China said that it will investigate three major technology companies in the United States: computer and service giant IBM, storage equipment company EMC, and Oracle, the world's leading enterprise software giant.

The reason why Washington officials feel so worried about Huawei is because they are aware of the capabilities of the US spy agency. The spies of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will translate in-depth technical knowledge of the US-developed technology hardware into their tools for espionage.

It was the Central Intelligence Agency and Israel’s intelligence agency that created the Stuxnet and attacked Iran’s nuclear research program. There are other viruses before and after the Seismic Network, all using Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Now the Snowden incident. Snowden was a former contractor for the National Security Agency. He downloaded and published documents that disclose many confidential information collection programs, which are aimed at many countries including China. According to a report in The Washington Post in June, an internal assessment of Snowden's exposure documents expressed deep concern that this may jeopardize the sources and methods of information used to detect China.

The "Washington Post" report also quoted a former intelligence agency official as saying that letting China know how we conduct investigations is not in the interests of the United States.

China's curiosity has obviously been aroused. American technology companies that deal with the Chinese government in the coming months may also encounter more similar security investigations.