As this New York Times front page article attests, U.S. officials believe the Chinese cyber attack groups, Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, are still in American telecommunications networks. The author of the article, David Sanger, calls it “the most significant assault on American critical infrastructure in the digital age.” He adds: “Officials have said they do […]…
About: William Holstein
Author Archives: William Holstein
The New York Times editorial page runs another silly opinion piece about China
The editorial department, as opposed to the news department, today prints a very long guest essay by Jameel Jaffer and Genevieve Lakier, who both have legal backgrounds in Chicago. It is entitled, “The Supreme Court Must Intervene in the TikTok Case.” These two are complete unknowns to most people involved in China watching, myself included. […]…
Why a Tik Tok Sale Will Be Difficult
A U.S. court has made it seem final–China’s ByteDance has to sell TikTok, which reaches 170 million Americans, or shut it down. I predict a smooth sale will be impossible. Here’s why–what makes TikTok so addictive and so powerful are the algorithms and computing power that support it. TikTok can see all a user’s contacts, […]…
The New York Times Catches Up: American CEOs Must Understand Their China Risks
I warned on Nov. 19 that American CEOs need to understand the full extent of their companies’ exposure to Chinese government retaliation. The august New York Times published this piece today, almost 10 days after my blog post, concurring with my warning. In it, Alexandra Stevenson and Paul Mozur describe how the Chinese are withholding […]…
The Right’s Triumph Over Social Media–with Russia’s help
This is an important article in today’s New York Times. To summarize for anyone who doesn’t have electronic access to the Times, Julia Angwin, a contributing opinion writer, argues that the right used social media to help Trump win the election. It’s perhaps one reason the traditional “mainstream” media was so surprised by the election […]…
