What's behind Bloomberg's sensational and fake report?

World
Europe

Last week, Bloomberg published a much controversial feature story alleging that Chinese spies had inserted malicious microchips into Supermicro motherboards used by tech giants Amazon and Apple and the US government. Five days later, although vigorously denied by Amazon, Apple, and Supermicro, Bloomberg reported new evidence on Chinese tampering with server chips.

Leaving aside the accuracy of Bloomberg's investigation, the stock prices of Supermicro and other tech firms have plummeted since the report was published, which raised concerns about the US' over-reliance on China's technology supply chain.

But how are media held accountable if fake or unverified news leads to undesirable consequences?

Dr. Zhao Hai, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that Bloomberg's reports may be propaganda pieces serving the strategic purpose of the US.

He also noted that the reports may also be based on wrong information intentionally passed on by US officials to the media organization.

This view was challenged by Harvey Dzodin, a senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization. He claimed that there are still too many unknowns and it can just be a sensational story done with the purpose of attracting eyeballs.

01:41

"The responsibility of media, first and foremost, is they have sources that can be cited," said Brian Becker, the host of Loud & Clear on Radio Sputnik, pointing at the lack of reliable and named sources in Bloomberg's story.

According to Becker, the headlines, alleging China of infiltrating US tech giants, stay on with American people, fostering feelings of fear and hatred against China, as well as sparking reservations of tech firms about collaborating with Chinese firms.

Dr. Jay Huang, a founding partner of Jadestone Capital and former managing director of Intel China, also thinks Bloomberg's pieces suggest that China has infiltrated the overall supply chain and the danger is ubiquitous.

In terms of the possible lawsuit by Supermicro, which has suffered heavy loss in the stock market, following the Bloomberg report, Becker stated that defamation lawsuit is a complicated situation, it would lead to an investigation which may end up revealing internal data and communications.

00:54

Dzodin added that there's a mirror image to the US narrative in China, "Chinese President Xi Jinping has given two speeches about having to have homegrown chips, and things like this, and not being reliant on other countries, whether or not it involves espionage or reliability."

"Both sides are having a wake-up call now, whether these charges are true or not," Dzodin said.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)