(Associated Press via NewsEdge) An international dispute over a wireless computing standard took a bitter turn this past week with the Chinese delegation walking out of a global meeting to discuss the technology.
The delegation's walkout from the opening of a two-day meeting in the Czech Republic escalated an already rancorous struggle by China to gain international acceptance for its homegrown encryption technology known as WAPI.
It follows Chinese accusations that a US-based standards body used underhanded tactics to prevent global approval of WAPI.
'In this extremely unfair atmosphere, it is meaningless for the Chinese delegation to continue attending the meeting,' the Standardization Administration of China delegation said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency.
The US-based group, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, denies any impropriety and says China isn't playing by the established rules.
At stake is a leg-up in technology research and billions of dollars in licensing fees and component sales for laptops, mobile phones, handheld computers and other wireless devices.
These gadgets run on networks based on the IEEE's 802.11 standards. The original standards, however, have security holes that allow digital snoops to steal data from those who are logged on to the networks.
China had earlier tried to compel Intel and other tech companies to adopt its WAPI standard domestically, leading to a showdown with Washington that ended with Beijing backing down last year.
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