If the Internet represents a vast ocean of crucial information and data, the U.S. and China should stay in the same boat together and not think about pushing one another off.
That analogy was core to Lu Wei’s speech at the eighth annual U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum held at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Wash. on Wednesday.
Lu is China’s head of cybersecurity and Internet policy, better known as the country’s “Internet czar.” China created a cyberspace administration office last year that Lu helps manage along with China President Xi Jinping, who is also in the Seattle region this week meeting with business executives and government officials.
Lu spoke for ten minutes at the Forum’s opening keynote in front of U.S. and Chinese business leaders like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, and Didi Kuaidi President Jean Liu. He mostly focused on why the U.S. and China should work together when it comes to Internet conduct and governance.
“China has shown a responsible power, determination, and confidence in protecting and defending Internet security and deepening cooperation,” said Wei, who delivered his speech in Chinese. “We are unflinching in our efforts to achieve mutual benefits and mutual victory.”
Tension between the U.S. and Chinese governments has increased recently over a number of tech-related policies and technology protectionism. Lu said that China is taking steps to become “open-minded and inclusive” when it comes to its Internet policies, particularly when working with foreign companies and governments. He talked about the opportunities ahead for the U.S. and China to partner and create equally beneficial outcomes, and noted that the top-ten websites with the highest traffic worldwide are from the two countries alone.
“There are all kinds of challenges and risks in front of us, but the mainstream of our relations in the Internet industry between the two countries is the same: Mutual victory and mutual benefit,” Lu said.
Lu added that “through trust, we can actually unify and dissolve our differences.”
“President Roosevelt said that the only obstacle to realize tomorrow’s goal is the doubt of today,” Lu said, quoting America’s 32nd president.
Lu also touched on cybercrimes, noting that the U.S. and China “should be on the same ship” when it comes to countering hackers and cyberterrorists. It was a similar tone to the policy speech given by President Xi on Tuesday evening.
Given that existing tension and the fact that China’s government has been accused of hacking U.S. companies, topics of hacking and cybersecurity will surely be discussed when President Xi leaves Seattle on Thursday to visit President Barack Obama later this week in Washington D.C.
“Both countries are victims of cyberattacks,” Lu said. “This is our common challenge.”
Toward the end of his talk, Lu circled back to his boat analogy, recalling an ancient Chinese tale of two men in a small boat together, fighting off a huge storm in the ocean. At first, they suffered hardship and disagreed — working on their own terms would lead to failure. But ultimately, they partnered together to make it to land.
“There were only two people on that ship 2,500 years ago; however, in today’s world, the boat of the Internet carries more than two men, more than China and the U.S. — it carries several billion people in the world,” Lu said. “We are so closely related — we share the same developments, benefit, and fate. When we now face the same waves, reefs, rocks, and danger, the only choice we have is to cooperate and be on the same boat to lead everybody safely to the other end. Let’s work together on this great boat of the Internet and sail to our destination, which is the happiness of all mankind.”
