Australia to remove defense files from Chinese- owned data hub, ‘ politicizing’ ties
Chinese experts said Australia should not politicize economic ties with China following an announcement by the Australian Defense Ministry that it would move its files out of a Chinese- owned data hub to ensure information security.
The Australian Defense Ministry said it is preparing to spend up to $ 200 million to move files out of data hub Global Switch despite company assurances that its files are secure, Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC) News reported.
The report said Global Switch owns two high- security data centers in Ultimo where the company holds classified gov- ernment information, including sensitive defense and intelligence files.
The ownership of Global Switch changed in December 2016 when the London- based parent company, Aldersgate Investments, accepted $ 4 billion in cash for a 49 percent stake from Chinese consortium Elegant Jubilee.
The investors were assembled by Li Qiang, who owns shares in one of China’s leading data center companies, Daily Tech.
Daily Tech could not be reached for comment as of press time. But Global Switch’s Asia- Pacific group director, Damon Reid, said in a statement that the company was essentially a high- quality real estate business. He said it does not provide IT services to customers nor does it have access to customer data.
Zhang Junshe, a senior military expert at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times that the Australia Defense Ministry is trying to politicize the two countries’ economic and trade exchanges.
By mirroring the US, Australia is attempting to disrupt bilateral cooperation and further affect Chinese investments in Australia, Zhang said, adding that if other countries do the same thing, it would affect the international economic order.
Shen Yi, director of Fudan Universi- ty’s Research Center for the Governance of Global Cyberspace, said that Australia tightly controls its classified data based on speculation. Therefore, the West should stop judging and criticizing China’s Internet security review system.
Zhang added that it shows Australia relies on China economically and hopes reap the benefits of such a relationship, but remains on high alert against China on national security matters, even attempting to contain China’s development.