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If you're going to the Beijing Olympic Games, read on --
Thought this might interest folks. A friend received it from the IT/Security department of her company. If you are going to China and thinking of taking your phone or laptop with you, read on. Used by permission, and with serial numbers filed off:
Background:
The Chinese have had a long history of competent and effective collection of information from foreign visitors. As an example, when US contractors were bidding for Chinese contracts, the Chinese would first wine and dine them, and then after the contractors had had enough wine, would take them individually and "confidentially" aside and tell each that they were very close to being awarded the contract if only they would provide this additional needed confidential information to their Chinese hosts. The eager contractors would oblige and provide sensitive or even outright classified information and then go home and wait for the contract award, only to be informed later that the procurement had been "canceled".
It is also noteworthy that China openly acknowledges having a cyber warfare doctrine on par with the Chinese army, navy and air force. Their intelligence organization is first rate.
Unlike the US which has a horizon that usually does not go past each next elections, the Chinese have traditionally taken a very long term strategic view of things; they can do this because managers are not accountable to stockholders and the government is not accountable to the electorate.
Do's and Don'ts
Leave the laptop at home. Unless absolutely essential -and one would be hard-pressed to articulate good reasons why a laptop would be "essential during pleasure travel"-, do not take your laptop with you. If you must take a laptop, get a "clean one" with no sensitive information in it (such as a newly purchased one that you can return to the store for a full refund upon your return). You may think that your regular laptop is "clean" but it isn't because it contains remnants of just about everything you have written in it, copied to it, received as email in it, or otherwise used it for ever since you got it. Remember, the "delete" command deletes nothing; also, contrary to popular misconception, even the "format" and even the repartitioning commands do NOT remove data; such data can be readily retrieved even though the typical user cannot do so from within Windows.
If you "must" take your Blackberry or similar device that stores corporate and personal email in it, assume that it will be copied and that copies of all your emails will become available to the Chinese.
Items that can be retrieved from your computer include but are not limited to: tax returns, financial information, personal letters than can be compromising, record of adult web sites visited, items of a personal nature ordered online, address lists of all of your contacts, email correspondence from years ago, off-color jokes, and anything which can be used to blackmail you by threatening to disclose its contents to your work, your spouse, the US government, or anyone else.
If you need to take your cell phone with you, there are a few things you should know:
Check with your US cellular service provider if your cell phone and also your service agreement will work in China in the first place.
If it does work in China, check the rates and be prepared to be surprised at the expense.
If you have one of the new computer-like cell phones, like the iPhone, the Nokia N95, some new Verizon phones and numerous others, make very sure that you disable the data portion of it completely before going abroad. Even if you don't place or receive a single call, the data portion of your phone may be receiving a lot of data for which you will be billed by your US cellular service provider upon return. Bills in the thousands of dollars have been faced by US persons returning from a few days to Mexico, for example.
Your cell phone is a beacon that keeps telling the host country "I am here" (within a hundred feet or so) all the time. Do you want your host country to know that?
Some cell phones can be remotely commanded to turn themselves on and transmit ambient room audio to whomever commanded them in that mode. Remove their battery when you are not actively using them.
If you take a digital camera, get new memory chips or clean the ones you have. Just like a computer, "deleted" photos from the past are not deleted at all unless they happen to have been entirely overwritten by newer photographs taken since -end even then you are not assured of overwriting unless you fill out the entire memory chip with new photos. Past photos that you may not want third parties to discover include personal photos of all kinds. If you want to "clean" your camera memories, first re-format the memory, then point the camera to anything dull (a wall, the sky, etc.) and keep clicking away until you fill out the entire memory, and then re-format the memory once more after you have filled it up with such dull photos. As with camera memories, so with any digital device you may consider bringing, such as digital voice recorders, etc.
While there, do not photograph anything that the Chinese could consider as being associated with their national security. This includes bridges, ports, police stations, airports, refineries, water purification plants, etc. You really wouldn't want to spend time at a police station there trying to explain yourself. Your US "rights" have no weight outside of the US, and the US embassy there will not come to your rescue if you violate local laws in the host country.
If you use the Internet in China (e.g. from an Internet café, or from a hotel) be aware that all of your online activities will be scrutinized and watched. China has the "Golden Shield" law which is all-inclusive and holds the Internet Service Providers there personally responsible for the online conduct of their respective clients and users; this motivates these Service Providers to watch very carefully what their clients and users (this means you) do online. Words and phrases such as Falun Gong, Tianamen Square, revolution, regime change, democracy, freedom, and numerous others automatically trigger a much closer look by the authorities.
Do not engage your tour guides, friendly people you meet on the street, or any other strangers, in politically charged discussions such as criticizing the regime or proclaiming that Taiwan is a different country. You don't want to be charged with subversive activities. Remember that you are a guest in their country, and that they, too, take pride in their views and culture. Their country has been around for a very long time.
Do not change money in the black market, such as at street corners. The minimal financial benefit you might (or might not) get is not worth risking going to jail for it.
All in all, keep in mind that you will be in a country which is technologically very advanced, which has a first rate Intelligence organization, which is suspicious of foreigners, which takes great pride in itself, and which does not have much tolerance for dissent. Their sense of humor is different than ours.
----------------------------
Addendum: If you really need a phone, bring a phone card. There are plenty of phone kiosks around, and there's really no expectation of privacy anyway so plan on using the hotel phone.
Regarding photos perceived as threatening - even the police in uniform are considered national security. As a student in Beijing, I, along with other students, had film confiscated. I was lucky and did not have to spend time at a Beijing police station; my friends were not so lucky and it is NOT a pleasant experience.
Exchange money at the airport here or at a Bank of China, and keep in mind you'll likely have an exit tax to pay before leaving.
And finally -- The food is FANTASTIC, so simply enjoy. Be prepared to be seated with numerous other people at the same table; the Chinese have no sense of personal space or privacy the way Americans do.
*****************
Coda: From another person on HerDomain, a women's tech group --
I'd like to add that, even in hotel rooms, you may not be alone. When I was in China in 1991, our hotel rooms were bugged.
If you take any kind of religious or political materials (Bibles, or any other), take only one copy that you can claim as personal reading material. I don't know about other religions, by you are not allowed to preach or teach Christianity in China.
Rule of Thumb: Be cautious everywhere you go - what you say, what you do, what you wear (i.e. tees with messages on them).
It is so sad that people must constantly live in fear there. We knew Chinese Christians who were taken from their homes and "re-educated". Some went missing for months.
Of course, YMMV. But I thought this was interesting, and a reminder that it is a VERY different culture. Be polite. (And don't try bitter melon. Trust me -- my omnivore SO refuses to eat it, and he'll eat anything that he's not allergic to. And DON'T offer them black licorice -- it even smells ghastly to Orientals, and tastes worse.)
Background:
The Chinese have had a long history of competent and effective collection of information from foreign visitors. As an example, when US contractors were bidding for Chinese contracts, the Chinese would first wine and dine them, and then after the contractors had had enough wine, would take them individually and "confidentially" aside and tell each that they were very close to being awarded the contract if only they would provide this additional needed confidential information to their Chinese hosts. The eager contractors would oblige and provide sensitive or even outright classified information and then go home and wait for the contract award, only to be informed later that the procurement had been "canceled".
It is also noteworthy that China openly acknowledges having a cyber warfare doctrine on par with the Chinese army, navy and air force. Their intelligence organization is first rate.
Unlike the US which has a horizon that usually does not go past each next elections, the Chinese have traditionally taken a very long term strategic view of things; they can do this because managers are not accountable to stockholders and the government is not accountable to the electorate.
Do's and Don'ts
Leave the laptop at home. Unless absolutely essential -and one would be hard-pressed to articulate good reasons why a laptop would be "essential during pleasure travel"-, do not take your laptop with you. If you must take a laptop, get a "clean one" with no sensitive information in it (such as a newly purchased one that you can return to the store for a full refund upon your return). You may think that your regular laptop is "clean" but it isn't because it contains remnants of just about everything you have written in it, copied to it, received as email in it, or otherwise used it for ever since you got it. Remember, the "delete" command deletes nothing; also, contrary to popular misconception, even the "format" and even the repartitioning commands do NOT remove data; such data can be readily retrieved even though the typical user cannot do so from within Windows.
If you "must" take your Blackberry or similar device that stores corporate and personal email in it, assume that it will be copied and that copies of all your emails will become available to the Chinese.
Items that can be retrieved from your computer include but are not limited to: tax returns, financial information, personal letters than can be compromising, record of adult web sites visited, items of a personal nature ordered online, address lists of all of your contacts, email correspondence from years ago, off-color jokes, and anything which can be used to blackmail you by threatening to disclose its contents to your work, your spouse, the US government, or anyone else.
If you need to take your cell phone with you, there are a few things you should know:
Check with your US cellular service provider if your cell phone and also your service agreement will work in China in the first place.
If it does work in China, check the rates and be prepared to be surprised at the expense.
If you have one of the new computer-like cell phones, like the iPhone, the Nokia N95, some new Verizon phones and numerous others, make very sure that you disable the data portion of it completely before going abroad. Even if you don't place or receive a single call, the data portion of your phone may be receiving a lot of data for which you will be billed by your US cellular service provider upon return. Bills in the thousands of dollars have been faced by US persons returning from a few days to Mexico, for example.
Your cell phone is a beacon that keeps telling the host country "I am here" (within a hundred feet or so) all the time. Do you want your host country to know that?
Some cell phones can be remotely commanded to turn themselves on and transmit ambient room audio to whomever commanded them in that mode. Remove their battery when you are not actively using them.
If you take a digital camera, get new memory chips or clean the ones you have. Just like a computer, "deleted" photos from the past are not deleted at all unless they happen to have been entirely overwritten by newer photographs taken since -end even then you are not assured of overwriting unless you fill out the entire memory chip with new photos. Past photos that you may not want third parties to discover include personal photos of all kinds. If you want to "clean" your camera memories, first re-format the memory, then point the camera to anything dull (a wall, the sky, etc.) and keep clicking away until you fill out the entire memory, and then re-format the memory once more after you have filled it up with such dull photos. As with camera memories, so with any digital device you may consider bringing, such as digital voice recorders, etc.
While there, do not photograph anything that the Chinese could consider as being associated with their national security. This includes bridges, ports, police stations, airports, refineries, water purification plants, etc. You really wouldn't want to spend time at a police station there trying to explain yourself. Your US "rights" have no weight outside of the US, and the US embassy there will not come to your rescue if you violate local laws in the host country.
If you use the Internet in China (e.g. from an Internet café, or from a hotel) be aware that all of your online activities will be scrutinized and watched. China has the "Golden Shield" law which is all-inclusive and holds the Internet Service Providers there personally responsible for the online conduct of their respective clients and users; this motivates these Service Providers to watch very carefully what their clients and users (this means you) do online. Words and phrases such as Falun Gong, Tianamen Square, revolution, regime change, democracy, freedom, and numerous others automatically trigger a much closer look by the authorities.
Do not engage your tour guides, friendly people you meet on the street, or any other strangers, in politically charged discussions such as criticizing the regime or proclaiming that Taiwan is a different country. You don't want to be charged with subversive activities. Remember that you are a guest in their country, and that they, too, take pride in their views and culture. Their country has been around for a very long time.
Do not change money in the black market, such as at street corners. The minimal financial benefit you might (or might not) get is not worth risking going to jail for it.
All in all, keep in mind that you will be in a country which is technologically very advanced, which has a first rate Intelligence organization, which is suspicious of foreigners, which takes great pride in itself, and which does not have much tolerance for dissent. Their sense of humor is different than ours.
----------------------------
Addendum: If you really need a phone, bring a phone card. There are plenty of phone kiosks around, and there's really no expectation of privacy anyway so plan on using the hotel phone.
Regarding photos perceived as threatening - even the police in uniform are considered national security. As a student in Beijing, I, along with other students, had film confiscated. I was lucky and did not have to spend time at a Beijing police station; my friends were not so lucky and it is NOT a pleasant experience.
Exchange money at the airport here or at a Bank of China, and keep in mind you'll likely have an exit tax to pay before leaving.
And finally -- The food is FANTASTIC, so simply enjoy. Be prepared to be seated with numerous other people at the same table; the Chinese have no sense of personal space or privacy the way Americans do.
*****************
Coda: From another person on HerDomain, a women's tech group --
I'd like to add that, even in hotel rooms, you may not be alone. When I was in China in 1991, our hotel rooms were bugged.
If you take any kind of religious or political materials (Bibles, or any other), take only one copy that you can claim as personal reading material. I don't know about other religions, by you are not allowed to preach or teach Christianity in China.
Rule of Thumb: Be cautious everywhere you go - what you say, what you do, what you wear (i.e. tees with messages on them).
It is so sad that people must constantly live in fear there. We knew Chinese Christians who were taken from their homes and "re-educated". Some went missing for months.
Of course, YMMV. But I thought this was interesting, and a reminder that it is a VERY different culture. Be polite. (And don't try bitter melon. Trust me -- my omnivore SO refuses to eat it, and he'll eat anything that he's not allergic to. And DON'T offer them black licorice -- it even smells ghastly to Orientals, and tastes worse.)
no subject
---Ell