So far, there have been almost no reports of infrastructure problems in mainland China, while many airports in the Asia- Pacific region, from Hong Kong to Australia, have been disrupted. International airports in Beijing and Shanghai are operating normally.
Meanwhile, the Windows bug that causes blue screens on computers has become a hot topic on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, as many overseas business offices across China have been affected by the issue.
A blue screen error at a currency exchange kiosk at Hong Kong International Airport on July 19. Photo: Edmond So
An employee of a foreign company in Shanghai said her office started experiencing computer problems in the early afternoon of July 19, and almost everyone was affected by a blue screen error with the message “Recovery. It looks like Windows didn't load correctly.”
The company’s IT support department then instructed everyone to turn off their computers, wait for further instructions, and use their phones for temporary communication. The staff’s accounting work was then delayed due to the power outage. “This month’s financial report will be delayed,” the staff said.
An employee from another overseas company also reported a blue screen around 1 p.m. Although some employees were later able to restart their computers, they were still unable to access the company’s website, which displayed a “502 Bad Gateway” error. According to the employee, the company told employees that “global IT support has activated the highest response level to resolve the issue.”
On social media platform Xiaohongshu, many users complained about difficulties checking in at international franchise hotels such as Sheraton, Marriott and Hyatt in Chinese cities.
As China's public services were largely unaffected, Microsoft's China website and social media channels did not make any emergency announcements.
China’s immunity from this global computer disaster reflects its reduced reliance on foreign service providers such as Microsoft and anti-virus company CrowdStrike. In recent years, China has replaced foreign hardware and systems with domestic software and systems across government departments and critical infrastructure operators.
The computer outage was caused by a software update from cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike that hit Windows systems around the world . CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz confirmed that his company was working to resolve the issue.
The negligible impact of Microsoft's outage in China proves that the country has made progress in achieving its goal of "safe and controllable" computer systems, according to a Chinese government official.
Hoai Phuong (according to SCMP)
Comment (0)