Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday advised his national security team to prepare for the worst-case scenario amid increased threats – both internal and external – to the nation.
The comments, reported by state news agency Xinhua, came during a meeting of the National Security Commission of the Communist Party of China.
FILE: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the meeting of APEC economic leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC Summit, November 19, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. (Jack Taylor/Pool photo via AP)
Xi said that “the complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we face now have increased significantly.”
China must “adhere to underlying thinking and worst-case scenario thinking, and prepare to undergo the major tests of high winds and rough, and even dangerous, rough seas,” he said.
US GOVERNMENT SENT $1.3 BILLION TO CHINA AND RUSSIA FOR GENDER EQUALITY, EXPERIMENTS AND WUHAN LAB RESEARCH
The Beijing meeting discussed the need for “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the governance of Internet data security and artificial intelligence,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xi, who is China’s head of state, commander of the military and chairman of the party’s National Security Commission, asked the meeting to “remain acutely aware of the complicated and difficult circumstances facing national security.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping discusses the country’s economic and social development during a policy meeting in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
China needs a “new development model with a new security architecture,” Xi told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, party leaders have been reported as warning of the risks posed by advances in AI as they called for more national security measures.
China already devotes substantial resources to suppressing any perceived political threat to party dominance, with spending on police and security personnel exceeding those devoted to the military.
CHINESE ‘DEBT TRAP’ CRIPLES POOR ECONOMIES, ENDANGER US NATIONAL SECURITY
Beijing has cracked down on its tech sector in a bid to reassert party control, but like other countries it is scrambling to find ways to regulate rapidly developing AI technology.
The party’s latest meeting reinforced the need to “assess potential risks, take precautions, safeguard people’s interests and national security, and ensure the safety, reliability and ability to control AI,” it said on Tuesday. the official Beijing Youth Daily newspaper.
A man walks past a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Communist Party of China Museum in Beijing March 3, 2023, ahead of the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress on March 5. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
China warned as early as 2018 of the need to regulate AI, but has nonetheless funded a vast expansion in the field as part of efforts to conquer the high ground for cutting-edge technologies.
The party’s lack of privacy protections and tight control over the legal system have also led to near-widespread use of facial, voice and even gait recognition technology to identify and arrest those seen as threatening, particularly dissidents politicians and religious minorities.
The risks of artificial intelligence are seen primarily in its ability to control robotic and autonomous weapons, financial instruments and computers that govern power grids, health centers, transportation networks and other key infrastructure.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
China’s unbridled enthusiasm for new technologies and willingness to tinker with imported or stolen research and stifle investigations into major events such as the COVID-19 outbreak heighten concerns about the use of artificial intelligence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
