My grandmother used to tell us that accusing someone of doing something you were already doing yourself, was like the pot calling the kettle black. Today that is not so easy to understand, but back in those days, cast iron was black, the stove fires burned every pot black, so it fit.
We have the best example, in a long time, characterized in a Spencer Ante article in today's Wall Street Journal. (see NSA Fallout: Tech Firms Feel a Chill Inside China) The article says IBM, Cisco, HP, and Microsoft have all suffered declining sales in China due to two things: increased emphasis on buying Chinese products and concern over NSA surveillance. We should probably understand that businesses do not find this kind of setback very funny, but it was hard not to laugh at the reasons given for it.
The Chinese, who have so far managed to steal every piece of electronic data they could get their hands on, can't be very concerned with NSA. They used the same kinds of excuses to harass Walmart and Rio Tinto, accusing the latter of stealing "state secrets" so named after they came into their possession. It is just intimidation. Walmart had action brought against them for making too much profit.
I'm surprised more wasn't made of Huawei and ZTE restrictions in the U.S. We still acuse them of being connected to Chinese Intelligence and both deny any such association. Maybe it is easier to say they "worry" about NSA surveillance, than to fight the allegations against both of them. They undermine U.S. sales in China to benefit their own companies. We owe them a little retribution.
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