Don’t turn Internet into victim of hegemony

By Ding Gang Source:Global Times Published: 2013-7-3 19:33:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 




 

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Edward Snowden, the former contractor and leaker of the National Security Agency, is still under the spotlight of the world media. His whereabouts have been discussed worldwide, but it should be noted that a thorough inquiry of the PRISM project cannot be neglected. Washington owes the whole world a reasonable explanation.

Until now, Washington is still turning a blind eye to the inquiries of the countries which were harmed by its cyber surveillance. It's still prevaricating in the face of China, Russia and Germany, deliberately side-stepping the nature of this issue.

However, the aftereffects of PRISM have cascaded, spiraling out of Washington's control. Its irreversible expansion will present a new case to explore how to deal with international relations in the Internet era.

In essence, international relations in cyberspace are an extended version of that in the real world. However, the security of cyberspace is more intertwined with the safety of the real world, making state-to-state "e-relations" play a significant role in deciding the security of the real world.

No matter how virtual and free cyberspace is, it will never be a means of escape from control in the real world. The changing structure of world forces will have an obvious influence on cyberspace, whose existence and progress will have to comply with the trends of global development.

Now, a principle, which is based on a certain consensus of international relations of the real world, has been taking shape. The Internet should not follow "survival of the fittest," and cannot be manipulated by a hegemonic force, no matter how technologically powerful it might be.

The structure of the world is undergoing a transformation, trying to get rid of the inertia produced by the old international relations dominated by hegemonies. This inertia has inevitably carried hegemony into the cyber world, causing conflicts and chaos.

Like the measures we took to manage the world financial and economic structures, the cyber world needs to abolish the outdated mechanisms and launch a reform to establish a new system which functions in a fair, reasonable and orderly manner.

This update requires global cooperation, which is also an inevitable demand resulting from the progress of international relations. It is believed that this worldwide cooperation will help orient the development of the cyber world.

The new order in the cyber world cannot be built without cooperation. Mutual respect should prevail over the dominance of any major power.

Advanced technologies, which are needed to safeguard the order of the cyber world, should be used as a tool to serve the welfare of humanity, rather than a weapon that can be used to consolidate the dominant status of any one nation. Justice and the legitimacy of the cyber world should be imperative.

Competition for the advancement of Internet technologies is unavoidable, but requires orderliness.

Like the business activities in trade and economic sectors, competition in cyberspace should be conducted in a fair manner without any interference in the sovereignty of other countries.

Snowden's appearance on the world stage managed to stir up a dirty scene, lifting a table cloth and revealing the filthy secrets under it.

Cooperation in cyberspace calls for honesty and trust. This is also why a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the mutual trust between the US and the EU should be restored. The term "restoration" carries negative connotations on the state of current "mutual trust."

Among the consequences of the PRISM incident, Washington might have ignored an important trend - no matter how powerful US technology is in cyberspace, its dominance in this area is destined to become a thing of the past.

The author is a senior editor with People's Daily. He is now stationed in Brazil. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn



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