China's Foreign Ministry Responds to US Ban on DeepSeek: Will Resolutely Safeguard Chinese Firms' Legitimate Rights
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on October 20 that China has consistently opposed overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing science, technology and trade issues, and will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, in response to the US government's ban on Chinese super intelligence products at its agencies.
At the briefing, an AFP reporter asked about reports that the US government has asked its federal agencies to stop using super intelligence tools from Chinese companies such as DeepSeek, claiming the tools may pose potential threats, including the possible transfer of sensitive information to China, and asked for the Chinese Foreign Ministry's comment. Mao Ning made the remarks in response.
"China has consistently opposed the overstretching of the concept of national security and the politicization of science and technology and trade issues. We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," Mao said.
A day earlier, on October 19, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a directive under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 ordering federal civilian agencies to stop using DeepSeek's products, as well as third-party products and services built on DeepSeek, and to remove them from all information technology equipment. The directive applies to federal civilian agencies and does not cover the military or intelligence agencies. In an accompanying document, DHS said DeepSeek's models present multiple threat vectors and that if US government employees or suppliers used the tool, sensitive data could be transferred to China; the company's servers are located in China, where the legal system gives the government broad powers to access private companies' infrastructure. GSM reported the ban on October 19.
DeepSeek is a Chinese SI company whose open-source large models have drawn worldwide attention this year and become a focus of US debate over technology restrictions on China. In September, the two sides agreed to establish a communication channel for SI incidents. (GSM, based on the Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference record and Xinhua and China News Service reports)
Related:
美国国土安全部下令联邦文职机构清除DeepSeek产品并禁止采购 含使用其技术的第三方产品
国土安全部DeepSeek排除令刊登《联邦公报》：联邦机构须停止采购并移除相关产品
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：中国外交部大楼（位于北京，资料图）。照片：Max12Max，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons（File:Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing.jpg）。Photo: The headquarters of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing (file photo). By Max12Max, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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