China's Internet Sovereignty

Endless hacking of US servers and WikiLeaks revelations may lead one to overlook that China, almost 40 years after the Cultural Revolution, is still wringing its hands about national security and US hegemony. The difference in our internet age is that worms, rootkits and cyberbots have been added to traditional armories. The prevailing view in China is that the US exercises too much influence in cyberspace and China's new so-called Cyber-Security Law (effective June 1, 2017) is a good example of the legal expression of this cyber-angst. It must be understood in the context of China's established concept of territorial sovereignty and the profusion of laws and regulations that now protect its "cyber-borders."