Cyber Security Policies of China and the National Security Exception of GATT
Saxena, N. (2017). Cyber Crimes in 21st Century. New Delhi, Manakin Press Pvt. Ltd.
53 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2017
Date Written: May 28, 2017
Abstract
The cyber platform has added a new dimension to the four dimensions of war – land, air and water. Nations go to great lengths to protect their sovereignty in all the five dimensions. The interface of trade and cyber-arena presents an important arena where the trade interests of a country comes in direct conflict with the perceived national security interests of the country in the cyber-domain. An attempt to understand the overlap of national security interests with trade is further complicated by the fact that the determination of security interests by a nation is a sovereign political determination whereas trade matters and conflicts are capable of being adjudged under the rules and provisions of trade treaties. In addition the evolution of cyber-space with the intangible and invisible space acquiring increased political and economic significance has led the nations to approach the security of the cyber-space from the viewpoint of national security with little harmonization or common understanding between different nations as to what constitutes national security in cyber-space.
This paper attempts to analyze how the issue of national security has played out in trade disputes between countries under the GATT and the WTO regime and thereafter seeks to apply the analysis to understand as what would be the result if a dispute having regulations which on the face of it are for cyber-security but indirectly affect the normal trade relations, were to come up to the dispute settlement body of the WTO.
Keywords: GATT, WTO, National Security, Cyber Security, Non-Violation Complaints
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