"We cannot ignore Microsoft's work in China."

Paul Bradford writes in American Greatness,

It’s Not Just Google—Microsoft Is Also Up To No Good In China

Microsoft touted its close relationship with the Chinese government at a 2018 conference in Beijing. “We’re the first global cloud partner to provide a fantastic, compliant, and legal cloud with Azure and Office365 in China. With Windows 10 Government Edition we are designing the first ever Windows 10 for government and [state-owned enterprises],” said Microsoft Greater China Region Chairman Alan Crozier.

Being “compliant” means following China’s strict rules governing internet and tech policy. These rules require companies to prohibit speech critical of the Chinese Communist Party, provide state surveillance of users, and allow the government to interfere in company policies. This is the standard cost of doing business in China.

The tech giant is a leader in artificial intelligence products for China. Microsoft has partnered with several Chinese universities to create an open AI platform and several of its employees train government bureaucrats on how to use its advanced technology. These universities are well-connected to the Chinese military, which effectively makes Microsoft a collaborator. The tech giant has denied this assertion, claiming it only works with benign academic researchers. That claim is only believable if you ignore who uses the technology developed by these humble academics.

At least three AI projects have been developed with China’s National University of Defense Technology, an institution directly overseen by the nation’s military. American politicians accused Microsoft of providing tech to persecute ethnic minorities and political dissidents.

“It is deeply disturbing that an American company would be actively working with the Chinese military to further build up the government’s surveillance network against its own people—an act that makes them complicit in aiding the Communist Chinese government’s totalitarian censorship apparatus and egregious human rights abuses,” Marco Rubio said in April.

Other tech Microsoft is tailoring to the Chinese market includes drone software and voice recognition systems. In July, Microsoft announced it would be marketing its Kinect sensor to the Chinese market. The AI business tool allows developers to experiment with depth sensing and machine learning.

Peter Thiel has emerged as one of the strongest voices opposed to Big Tech’s cozy relationship with China. In a New York Times op-ed published earlier this month, Thiel cited Ash Carter, Barack Obama’s defense secretary, who said, “If you’re working in China, you don’t know whether you’re working on a project for the military or not.”

“No intensive investigation is required to confirm this,” Thiel wrote. “All one need do is glance at the Communist Party of China’s own constitution: Xi Jinping added the principle of ‘civil-military fusion,’ which mandates that all research done in China be shared with the People’s Liberation Army, in 2017.”

...We cannot ignore Microsoft’s work in China. The tech giant needs to explain its relationship with the Chinese government and how it affects America’s national security. Our corporations should not serve America’s enemies. It’s time for them to put their homeland first—not China.

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