Chinese State Media Calls US a 'Surveillance Empire' Over Trackers In Chips (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0178694986
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/08/15/1955249/chinese-state-media-calls-us-a-surveillance-empire-over-trackers-in-chips
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-state-media-calls-us-surveillance-empire-over-trackers-chip-shipments-2025-08-15/
> The United States' practice of installing location trackers in chip shipments at risk of diversion to China [1]reflects the "instincts of a surveillance empire ," China's state-run media outlet Xinhua said in a commentary published on Friday. Reuters reported earlier this week that U.S. authorities had [2]secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips to detect diversions to China, which is under U.S. curbs for advanced chip exports. The Xinhua commentary, titled "America turns chip trade into a surveillance game," cited "reports" that Washington had embedded such trackers, accusing the United States of running "the world's most sprawling intelligence apparatus." [...] In its commentary, Xinhua accused the U.S. government of seeing its trading partners as "rivals to be tripped up or taken down," adding that "if U.S. chips are seen as Trojan horses for surveillance, customers will look elsewhere."
Further reading: [3]China Urges Firms To Avoid Nvidia H20 Chips After Trump Resumes Sales
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-state-media-calls-us-surveillance-empire-over-trackers-chip-shipments-2025-08-15/
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/13/1355200/us-embeds-trackers-in-ai-chip-shipments-to-catch-diversions-to-china
[3] https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/12/2011252/china-urges-firms-to-avoid-nvidia-h20-chips-after-trump-resumes-sales
That's not gonna stop them. (Score:2)
Trackers or not, it's never going to stop them from stealing foreign technology and attempting to copy it.
As if (Score:2)
China is wrong about this?
Re: (Score:2)
and we've always been at war with Eastasia.
Re: As if (Score:2)
Winston, how many fingers am I holding up?
Re: (Score:2)
Just the middle one.
Re: As if (Score:2)
Doubleplusgoodhumor
A Clear Case.. (Score:2)
..of the Pot calling the Kettle Black.
Re: (Score:2)
The kettle is black.
Re: (Score:2)
Look at intel's vPro CPUs, which included a 3g chip ostensibly to find lost / stolen devices
smile! (Score:4, Interesting)
" reflects the "instincts of a surveillance empire," "
This from the country with more cameras watching their populace than any other.
It's depressing that my country (Score:1, Troll)
No longer has the moral high ground over China and other dictatorships. Maybe Gavin Newsom will save us from that but we'll see.
Re: (Score:3)
lol.
Oh ya?
If you were a Chinese person and made this comment, you would disappear into a van, and re-appear 6 months later with a very different attitude.
It's important to acknowledge the US backslide- but when you do so from a position completely disconnected from reality, the only thing you really accomplish is causing people to ignore the warning.
You aren't helping. You're actively making it worse.
Trump has disappeared several people (Score:2, Flamebait)
Into vans so that comment no longer works. Try something else.
You know fascism is here but you crave it and you want it. So you're desperate to distract from it.
That and the Epstein files. Because those files might stop fascism in its tracks if Trump was ever forced to release them.
Re: (Score:2)
> [Trump has disappeared several people] Into vans so that comment no longer works. Try something else.
Here you go again.
Federal officers have apprehended individuals who are- due to our rather draconian immigration laws- criminals and fugitives.
They have been incarcerated for being so.
These people have even had access to judges (notably, habeas corpus has not been suspended- thank fuck)
This is not the same as knocking down the door of a political dissident and disappearing them.
You are making the world worse by essentially propagandizing for the Chinese (See? The US isn't worse than us! wink wink)
> You know fascism is here but you crave it and you want it. So you're desperate to distract from it.
Fasc
Re: (Score:2)
Nobody said America is perfect.
No "innocent" people have been sent to El Salvador (there's no hyphen).
That was my point above- some shit ass laws from the 90s that largely went unenforced are now being enforced.
These people are criminals.
The laws that allow for this kind of shit need to be changed.
Calling a dude who comes in and enforces 30 year old law a fascist is fucking unhinged.
Shipping people to El Salvador is fucked up. No question about it. But let's not pretend we've got secret police round
You're afraid (Score:2)
You have figured out things are out of control and you have probably figured out at least on an emotional level that they are going to bite you in the ass.
But you don't know what to do about it so you're going to cope the best you can.
I wonder how you will react when Trump runs for a third term in a couple of years. He's already selling Trump 2028 merchandise. I wonder what excuses you will make to get through the day then?
You know that they are working on stealing your home and your property bu
Whatever helps you sleep at night (Score:2)
And I get it you are probably White and think you're safe.
But is everything starts to collapse around you nobody is going to be safe. Especially not you're a pasty old white ass.
Re: (Score:2)
> And I get it you are probably White and think you're safe.
I didn't illegally enter this country, and am therefor safe.
Did you? Is that why you're so spun up?
> But is everything starts to collapse around you
Collapse? lol
Are you that ignorant of US history to think we're anywhere close to collapse? We're not even close to anywhere close to the worst we've been.
> nobody is going to be safe. Especially not you're a pasty old white ass.
Oh ya?
You gonna rise up and kill all the white man?
Re: It's depressing that my country (Score:2)
I don't see how. Whats wrong with making sure companies are obeying trade sanctions anyway? It's not spying on people, it's spying on shipping companies. Lots of pallets have GPS trackers built in in the US. What's the difference?
Re: (Score:1)
It's almost cute that you think the tracking will only apply to Chinese Nationals...
Re: It's depressing that my country (Score:1)
You said that, not me. They're tracking shipments. This is done all the time. This is no different than someone dropping an air pod in they're sending to say me one else. You've never ordered something on Amazon and followed the tracking info? This is literally just making sure they are lying about it. This kind of tracking is pretty benign compared to license plate readers and facial recognition.
It Takes One to Know One (Score:2)
You can't count the cameras in public areas in China.
takes one (Score:2)
Takes a surveillance state to know one.
China is like Hamas (Score:2)
It will say anything and do anything to snuff out individual freedom and support its goal of world domination,
Chinese State Media and Rueters (Score:2)
Maybe it is time for Rueters to find real news sources other that the Chinese government. Instead of quoting "Chinese State Media" they should just site that "Supreme Chinese leader Xing says". What is wrong with Reuters. It has become total garbage. It has zero integrity at all.
LOL (Score:4)
That's rich, coming from China... the country that [1]leads the world in mass surveillance [wikipedia.org].
It's breathtaking how spokespeople for the Chinese government can be so hypocritical without producing any evidence of a twinge of conscience or even self-awareness.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China
It's not me, it's you! (Score:2)
It's not you, it's me!
"Ring, ring!" (Score:5, Insightful)
*picks up phone*
"Hey, Pot! This is Kettle! YOU'RE BLACK!"
How about we just admit that the US and China are both surveillance states, and have been repeatedly caught doing shady shit?
Re:"Ring, ring!" (Score:5, Informative)
Completely sidestepping the surveillance state issue- which I don't completely disagree with you regarding any of the Five Eyes- this article doesn't describe behavior that's surveillance state behavior.
The US put trackers in shipments of devices that had a specified destination, in a world regime of shipping restrictions.
One could imagine that any country that sells weapons (US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, etc, etc, fucking etc) has at one time or another, made sure they could track their shipments to figure out how the fuck the Sudanese are getting them.
The Chinese claim is stupid as fuck and not worthy of airtime.