China Said to Push Banks to Remove IBM Servers for Security

Jakarta Globe, Steven Yang & Edmund Lococo, May 27, 2014

A combination photo of five military officers of China's People's Liberation Army.
 A combination photo shows five Chinese military officers who the US has
accused of cyber espionage. (Reuters Photo/FBI Handout)

The Chinese government is pushing domestic banks to remove high-end servers made by International Business Machines and replace them with a local brand, according to people familiar with the matter, in an escalation of the dispute with the US over spying claims.

Government agencies, including the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance, are reviewing whether Chinese commercial banks’ reliance on IBM servers compromises the country’s financial security, said the four people, who asked not to be identified because the review hasn’t been made public.

The review fits a broader pattern of retaliation after American prosecutors indicted five Chinese military officers for allegedly hacking into the computers of US companies and stealing secrets. Last week, China’s government said it will vet technology companies operating in the country, while the Financial Times reported May 25 that China ordered state-owned companies to cut ties with US consulting firms.

Harriet Ip, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for IBM, referred questions to IBM in the US Jeffrey Cross, a Somers, New York-based spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment outside US business hours.

“Security trumps everything,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing-based consultant to technology companies. “China doesn’t need the US companies in the way it did for the last few decades.”

The results of the government review will be submitted to a working group on Internet security led by President Xi Jinping, two of the people said.

Spokesmen for Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China declined to comment. Three phone calls to Agricultural Bank of China’s Beijing press office weren’t returned.

US technology sales in China have come under increasing threat following Edward Snowden’s revelations last June of a National Security Agency spying program. Forrester Research Inc. estimates purchases of information-technology products in China will rise 11 percent this year to $125 billion, meaning other US technology companies including Microsoft face threats to their business.

Microsoft said this month it was “surprised” to learn that China Central Government Procurement Center has excluded its Windows 8 operating system from a government purchase of energy-efficient computers. The nation’s official Xinhua News Agency called it “a move to ensure computer security.” China is the world’s largest market for personal computers.

“China’s government is in a strong position given Snowden’s disclosures,” Clark said. “If you give them an excuse, they will aggressively promote domestic brands.”

The directive would be a further blow to IBM’s business in China, where sales fell 20 percent in the first quarter. In an April conference call, Chief Financial Officer Martin Schroeter said the challenges were cyclical, “and we still see good opportunity over the long term” in China.

IBM announced in January it would sell its low-end server computer business to Beijing-based Lenovo for $2.3 billion. That transaction faces regulatory scrutiny including a US national security review. Angela Lee, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Lenovo, said she couldn’t immediately comment about the report.

In addition to concern about Armonk, New York-based IBM’s equipment as a security threat, China’s government also believes IBM servers are more expensive in China than in other regions, the people said.

China Postal Savings Bank is using servers made by Jinan-based Inspur as part of a trial program that began in March 2013, the people said. The government plans to expand that trial to other banks, they said.

The group’s Inspur International unit gained 10 percent to HK$1.53 at 2:57 p.m. in Hong Kong trading today. In Shenzhen, Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co. rose 4.7 percent.

Other agencies involved in the review include the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the people said. The NDRC, the Finance Ministry, the central bank and the CBRC didn’t immediately respond to faxed requests for comment.

The US indictment, announced May 19, led China to suspend its involvement in a cybersecurity working group and drew formal protests from the ministries of defense and foreign affairs. The State Internet Information Office likened the US actions to “a thief yelling ‘Catch the thief.’”

Bloomberg

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