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Symposium Event: Data Governance and Its Impact on U.S.-China Relations
On September 26, 2023, the Carter Center held an event titled ‘Data Governance and Its Impact on U.S.-China Relations’ in collaboration with Emory University, Georgia State University, Spellman College, and China Research Center in Atlanta.
The Center was honored to have Dr. Aynne Kokas, Dr. Larry Backer, Dr. Keren Wang, and Ms. Jamie Horsley (J.D.) as speakers at the symposium. Obse Ababiya, Associate Director in the Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives at Emory University and Maria Repnikova, Associate Professor in Global Communication at Georgia State University, opened the event. Dr. Kokas, our keynote speaker, gave an overview of her new book, Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty. She was followed with presentations by Ms. Horsley, Dr. Wang, and Dr. Backer. The four speakers then responded to a panel-style series of questions about the Chinese data governance structure and tensions in the U.S.-China data competition.
Find below the Zoom recording of the event as well as a summary excerpts of our interview with the keynote speaker, Dr. Aynne Kokas.
What is your new book Trafficking Data about and what’s the main message?
Aynne Kokas: My book delves into the intricate interaction between U.S. and Chinese consumer data governance. Its primary argument revolves around the notion that the United States, by persistently maintaining a fragmented pro-corporate data governance framework, is empowering Chinese laws and Chinese firms operating within the U.S. to collect extensive user data, which is then transferred to the Chinese government.
One crucial aspect I aim to underscore is that the book doesn’t primarily focus on China’s actions or the United States’ actions in isolation. Rather, it places a spotlight on a distinctive dynamic where the influence of U.S. tech firms intersects with the authority of the Chinese government. In many cases, Americans may not fully grasp the disparities between the U.S. and Chinese systems. Until recently, there has been limited awareness of the extensive reach and scale of Chinese data governance oversight beyond national borders. My hope is that, at the very least, this book can raise awareness regarding the interaction of fragmented US data governance and expansive, centralized Chinese data governance. Thus, the issue of consumer data gathering transcends the mere concern of whether individuals are comfortable with others knowing what they post online; instead, this U.S-China “data trade” is a part of a broader global data governance challenge.
You touched upon the concept of “digital sovereignty” in the book. How would you define this term, and what would be the consequences for, as you phrased it, “China winning the battle for digital sovereignty”?
Aynne Kokas: The concept of digital sovereignty is a contentious issue globally, as countries grapple with the question of how to govern digital spaces in relation to their sovereign territories. In China, there’s a clear set of laws that regulate the activities of Chinese nationals and violations of national security occurring digitally outside of China. In contrast, the U.S. has traditionally benefited from the expansive global operations of its domestic tech companies without a well-defined vision of the relationship between national sovereignty and digital sovereignty. China, unlike the United States, has established a clear vision the relationship between national sovereignty and digital sovereignty on a global scale. China’s approachwill shape the debate for generations. Both the U.S. and China possess international stature and influential tech companies. The actions of these countries impact not just governments but individuals and corporations operating between the two nations. They must navigate complex dynamics influenced by Chinese and American laws and relationships between firms and governments. In the US-China relationship and beyond, the evolving concept of digital sovereignty has far-reaching implications for global interactions and the tech industry.
