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Meanwhile, FiveEye countries have been intercepting data through these cables, all over the world, for only God knows how long [0] [1]. Which is a common theme

Meanwhile, FiveEye countries have been intercepting data through these cables, all over the world, for only God knows how long [0] [1]. Which is a common theme for this anti-China/Huawei push: Just accuse them of everything we are already guilty of. Anybody pointing out the hypocrisy can just be shut-up with a good dose of "whataboutism!". [0] https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secre... [1] https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/economy/telstra-s-deal-with-the-devil-fbi-access-to-its-undersea-cables/ https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/economy/telstra-s-de...

shawnz 7y ago
> Anybody pointing out the hypocrisy can just be shut-up with a good dose of "whataboutism!". And that would be a completely appropriate response if someone were to imply that the US' actions somehow justify China's actions. Or vice versa.
- Barrin92 7y ago
  well if you're neither American or Chinese which is true for most people on the planet and you have to weigh which supplier of infrastructure you choose then you do indeed need to weigh who is the worse actor. That's not justification, it's just an evaluation.
  - shawnz 7y ago
    Sure, but what you are describing is much different than "pointing out the hypocrisy"
    - freeflight 7y ago
      Not really, because as a German I've been directly affected by said hypocrisy and even when it came to light [0], quite spectacularly too, nothing changed. That's why I consider this current push of "China spying on everybody" quite cynical as it tries to sell a narrative where FiveEyes spying is the benevolent BigBrother only trying to protect us, but Chinese spying is evil incarnate. At this point, Germany might as well just go full-on post-privacy and just share all data about everybody with everybody, instead of playing these pretend games of "We care about privacy, except when it's in the way of US national security interests", which is an extremely weird stance to have for any country that's not the US. [0] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201403/20140307ATT80674/20140307ATT80674EN.pdf http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/20140...
  - abraae 7y ago
    Especially when you live in a small country that has historically been a stalwart ally of the US, and now has to reevaluate in the face of an increasingly purely transactional approach to alliances from the US.

shawnz 7y ago

> Anybody pointing out the hypocrisy can just be shut-up with a good dose of "whataboutism!". And that would be a completely appropriate response if someone were to imply that the US' actions somehow justify China's actions. Or vice versa.

Barrin92 7y ago
well if you're neither American or Chinese which is true for most people on the planet and you have to weigh which supplier of infrastructure you choose then you do indeed need to weigh who is the worse actor. That's not justification, it's just an evaluation.
- shawnz 7y ago
  Sure, but what you are describing is much different than "pointing out the hypocrisy"
  - freeflight 7y ago
    Not really, because as a German I've been directly affected by said hypocrisy and even when it came to light [0], quite spectacularly too, nothing changed. That's why I consider this current push of "China spying on everybody" quite cynical as it tries to sell a narrative where FiveEyes spying is the benevolent BigBrother only trying to protect us, but Chinese spying is evil incarnate. At this point, Germany might as well just go full-on post-privacy and just share all data about everybody with everybody, instead of playing these pretend games of "We care about privacy, except when it's in the way of US national security interests", which is an extremely weird stance to have for any country that's not the US. [0] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201403/20140307ATT80674/20140307ATT80674EN.pdf http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/20140...
- abraae 7y ago
  Especially when you live in a small country that has historically been a stalwart ally of the US, and now has to reevaluate in the face of an increasingly purely transactional approach to alliances from the US.