China calls Facebook, Google, Pawns of U.S. Spying Programs

The government of China is calling for harsh penalties for Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and other corporations it claims are spying for the United States. Officials in Beijing are labeling the technology giants as “pawns” for the federal government.

China recently announced they will conduct a security review of any technology equipment they import. Their investigation revealed service providers can present a security risk for users, according to officials.

Bejing stated Yahoo, Microsoft and other organizations were required to transmit personal information to the National Security Agency.

Ning Jiajun, from the Advisory Committee for State Information, stated, “Previously, the US asked companies to install wiretapping software on their technological products, but if users found and shut down related functions, its ‘plan’ would fail.”

China announced the allegations in the official government newspaper, the People’s Daily. A similar story was also published in English, in China Daily.

American technology businesses have lost billions of dollars in potential sales, as state-run companies in China choose to use domestically-produces services.

Last year, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the spy agency was secretly obtaining personal information through a program called PRISM. This gave U.S. officials access to data stored by Apple and Google.

It is unknown whether the latest charges from Beijing are based on these earlier findings, or of new programs were discovered by Chinese investigators.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the attack by China on demonstrators in Tienanmen Square.