Reports are coming out in the Chinese press, quoting an inside source, that the China Broadband Wireless IP Standard Working Group secretly convened a forum on WLAN China standards implementation in Beijing earlier this month, gathering together major domestic operators, equipment manufacturers and some governmental officials to discuss issues related to WLAN standards.
The source claims that forum participants aired much the same view, namely the strong support of China's WLAN standard, which will compete with the already-recognized global Wi-Fi standard. It is believed that the intention is to bring mature WLAN products to market as soon as possible both to expand the industry and show their determination to contend with their foreign counterparts.
Since November 2003, the issue of WLAN standards has brought continued struggle and debate between China and the West. Since China insists the international standard Wi-Fi safety protocol WEP and its successor WAP lag far behind encryption techiniques in other fields, it regards safety as its primary concern and therefore has tried to create its own standards in the field.