According to Reuters, Apple recently made a big splash by announcing that it would be storing the personal data of some Chinese users on servers in China.

Even though launching servers in China is not a big move, the step is considered positive in reducing worries of the Chinese government in light of national and private data security. But the move is rather peripheral compared with the importance of data, such as data collection, data usage and trans-border data flow, which plays a significant role in ensuring cyber security.

In launching servers on Chinese territory, Apple is allowing China to manage and control its future cyber security. It has passed the buck back to the Chinese government. Now it is China's turn to build and improve the legislation and institutions to guarantee the security of its cyberspace.

The United States is extending its sovereign antennas to other countries, including China, through the servers of the multi-national tech conglomerates, such as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google. It is particularly pressing now to figure out which country, the United States or China, or both, should have the right to manage the data stored on the servers. The problem is not only theoretically but also practically important because Apple has collected massive data from its Chinese users.

The problem which is reflected from Apple is not a single case. It is actually a fundamental institutional problem affecting the entire world in the cyber era: how to allocate cyber powers between individuals, enterprises, governments and states.

In addition to tap the vacuum, China is challenged with the unreasonable regulations stipulated by the United States, which takes advantage of its earlier developments to get absolute control over cyber infrastructure. To fight for fairness, China needs courage and wisdom to map out its strategies.

Apple's move has forced China to legislate and improve its legal system for cyber security. And what Chinese Internet users worry about most is the security of private information. The national legislation on protecting private information has reached a bottleneck, while laws issued in the United States can never be expected to protect Chinese citizens.

Moreover, a legal system of trans-border data flow, which is able to regulate the performance of multinational companies in China and is beneficial to both companies and the nation in terms of their interests, is indispensable, with regard to national security.

Apple raised a conundrum to China amid the global cyber security battlefield. But this is a positive development.

After China pointed out Apple's security problem, the tech giant has returned the ball to China. Behind the tech firm's bold move is the invisible hand of the U.S. government. It is inevitable that China and the United States may wrestle over the issue of cyber security. China will lose the game if it simply uses a defense strategy or constrains others with unwritten rules at home. What China really needs is to modernize its management of cyberspace through legislation and legal institutions on the basis of international criteria.

The challenge imposed by Apple is testing China's cyber strategies.

The writer is the founder of Chinalabs.com and director of the Research Center of Internet and Society of Zhejiang University of Media and Communications.

The article was translated by Wu Jin. Its original version was published in Chinese.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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