On Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:05:13 +0200, the renowned Tom P
wrote:
>PeterL wrote:
>> On Aug 3, 3:06 pm, Tom P wrote:
>>> Question from a first time visitor: with upcoming business trip to China
>>> looking possible, what problems might I get bringing a laptop into the
>>> country?
>>
>>
>> No too much, unless you want to connect to Falungon sites, or Amnesty
>> International. I understand that US state dept employees traveling to
>> China always carry a "clean" laptop with them. So if you have any
>> high level trade secrets you may want to be cautious.
>
> That is exactly my concern. The reason for bringing a laptop at all is
>the material essential to my work, much of which is confidential. I do
>not want customs or police or anyone else snooping round and maybe
>confiscating data or the whole laptop. What happens if I encrypt stuff?
>Does that make it look incriminating?
These days, I'd not carry anything *too* interesting over borders. The
US has been known to image laptops, and others may not be too far
behind. If you really need to bring "somewhat" interesting stuff,
maybe put it on an 8G SD card and copy it over later.
OTOH, if I were to take along certain information relating to
controlled goods on an overseas trip, even if it stays 'securely' on a
laptop constantly in my posession, I'd be committing a crime unless I
had an appropriate export permit, so that won't ever happen under any
circumstances.
I've never had anything but cordial and businesslike experiences
dealing with Chinese border officials.. unless you're a troublemaker
I'd expect the same for you. Just about everyone on business is
carrying a laptop. Unless there's something unusual about your
situation there's very little to worry about. What happens if your
laptop gets stolen and shows up at a night market? That's a lot more
likely than anyone official even looking at it on the way in.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
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