US officials denied visas earlier this month to four
representatives of a group developing China's Wireless Lan
Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) security protocol
for wireless networks.
The move has raised questions in China about the US government's
commitment to greater Chinese involvement in setting technical
standards.
The incident involved a six-member team from the China Broadband
Wireless IP Standards Group (BWIPS) which had planned to attend
WLan standards meeting in Orlando, Florida, on 11 November.
The meeting was organised by the International Organisation for
Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC), said Liu Chaoyang, a spokesman for the group.
BWIPS is the group charged with the development of WAPI, the
security protocol at the heart of a proposed Chinese WLan standard
that sparked controversy earlier this year.
Before plans to implement the WAPI-based standard were shelved
in April, fears had been raised that it could fragment the market
for WLan products as it was unlikely to be compatible with the
IEEE's 802.11 WLan standard, also known as Wi-Fi, that is commonly
used around the world.
The visa incident occurred three days before the Orlando
meeting, when the four technical representatives of the team were
informed by the US embassy in Beijing that their visa applications
had been denied, Liu said.
The applications of two non-technical team members were approved
and they attended the Orlando meeting.
"According to the ISO rules, this rejection [of the visa
applications] cannot be accepted by member countries," Liu said,
adding that the Chinese delegation had made a formal complaint.
That complaint had received support from other member countries
and some US companies at the meeting, he said.
Liu declined to speculate about why the visa applications were
rejected, but he questioned whether the incident might reflect US
opposition to Chinese involvement in setting WLan security
standards.
Individual visa applications are confidential, said a
spokeswoman for the US Department of State's Bureau of Consular
Affairs.
Visas are often denied if the applicants do not demonstrate
evidence of wanting to return to their home countries, or if the
government is concerned about the transfer of sensitive technology
out of the US, said Kelly Shannon, the State Department
spokeswoman.
Under technology transfer rules, visas can be denied if US
officials are concerned about specific technologies being taken
into other countries, she added.
Whatever the reason, the visa incident appears at odds with
official US trade policy.
Liu said the incident would not deter greater Chinese
involvement in the process of setting international standards.
Sumner Lemon writes for IDG News Service