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"Director, we've found it. Zhang Tao, the vice president of Hanxin Microelectronics, is the nephew of Sun Heming, the director of the Science and Technology Department."

Qin Yu's words weighed heavily on Chen Ping's mind. Looking at the relationship diagram between Zhang Tao and Sun Heming on the screen, Zhang Tao's confession and Gu Weizhen's findings instantly connected in his mind. This was a serious issue that touched upon the bottom line of national security.

"Prepare the car." Chen Ping stood up, his voice steady.

Qin Yu immediately put away his computer and turned to make arrangements.

Chen Pingfang walked to the window, a night breeze seeping in through the cracks, bringing a chill. He raised his hand to his forehead, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. He knew that a truly tough battle was just beginning.

~

The following morning, in the meeting room of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy and oppressive. Attendees took their seats one by one, each sensing that today's meeting was extraordinary. Secretary Deshan sat in the main seat, his calm gaze sweeping across the room. Governor Liu Mingyuan sat to Secretary Deshan's right, his expression serious.

Sun Heming sat in his seat, having spent a sleepless night. The news of his nephew Zhang Tao being taken away by the National Security Bureau weighed heavily on his mind. He tried to contact him, but to no avail. He had a premonition that Chen Pingfang would launch an attack at today's Standing Committee meeting.

Chen Pingfang walked into the conference room and went straight to his seat. He held only a USB drive in his hand, his expression calm and undisturbed. After sitting down, he merely nodded slightly to Secretary Deshan and Governor Liu Mingyuan, and then said nothing more.

The meeting officially began. Secretary Deshan gave a brief opening speech before turning the conversation directly to Chen Pingfang.

"Comrade Pingfang, regarding the Chip Spark Program and the change of industrial land use in the High-tech Zone, do you have any new developments to report to the Standing Committee?"

Chen Ping stood up and inserted the USB drive into the main control computer in the conference room. Two code comparison images immediately appeared on the large screen.

"Distinguished leaders, this is the underlying code discovered by Professor Gu Weizhen's team at the Chipfire Project Laboratory during reverse engineering of M~Tek's latest EDA design software." Chen Ping raised his hand and pointed to the screen above.

Chen Ping moved the mouse and circled a section of code on the left.

"This code is the built-in backdoor logic of M-Tek's EDA software. Under certain conditions, it can remotely obtain user design data and even implant malicious commands."

A murmur rippled through the conference room. Many people sat up straight, their expressions shifting slightly.

Sun Heming's breath hitched. He knew that M-Tek's EDA was something their Science and Technology Department had always recommended.

Without pausing, Chen Ping moved the mouse to the right side of the screen.

"And the code on the right is the underlying driver architecture of 'Golden Shield Security Guardian,' the antivirus software with the highest market share in China." Chen Pingfang's voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly reached everyone's ears.

Chen Ping then circled several modules in the code on the right.

"After professional comparison, Professor Gu's team found that the two code snippets had more than 70% similarity in their underlying logic, encryption methods, and even variable naming conventions. This means that they are very likely from the same source."

Upon hearing this, the entire conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Golden Shield Security Guard is an antivirus software installed on the computers of almost all government agencies, research institutions, and even ordinary citizens. If it shares the same origin as M~Tek's backdoor, what does that mean?

"This...how is this possible?" someone exclaimed in a low voice.

Sun Heming's face turned deathly pale instantly. He abruptly stood up.

"Director Chen, you're exaggerating. A code similarity doesn't prove anything. It's completely unfounded and has no substantial evidence whatsoever," Sun Heming tried to refute, his voice trembling slightly.

Party Secretary Deshan and Governor Liu Mingyuan were both watching Chen Pingfang closely. They both knew the importance of this matter and were waiting to see Chen Pingfang's next move.

Chen Ping looked at Sun Heming, and his calm gaze made Sun Heming feel a little guilty.

"Director Sun is right. The similarity of a piece of code cannot fully explain the problem." Chen Pingfang acknowledged part of Sun Heming's statement.

Sun Heming relaxed a bit, thinking that Chen Pingfang was going to back down.

"However," Chen Ping changed the subject, took out several documents from his briefcase, walked to the head of the table, and handed them to Secretary Deshan and Governor Liu Mingyuan.

"This is the latest evidence obtained by the national security department during their surprise interrogation of Zhang Tao, vice president of Hanxin Microelectronics, last night."

Chen Ping's voice instantly turned the atmosphere in the entire conference room cold.

"Zhang Tao is the vice president of Hanxin Microelectronics and also Director Sun's nephew," Chen Pingfang added.

Sun Heming's body stiffened abruptly. He felt as if the lights in the conference room had suddenly become incredibly glaring.

"Hanxin Microelectronics, as a key local enterprise recommended by the Science and Technology Department, is also a chip distributor for a large number of government agencies and research institutions in our province. The chips they distribute are from M~Tek." Chen Pingfang said each word with a serious tone.

"The national security department found a large number of encrypted emails on Zhang Tao's personal computer that were linked to internal communications with M~Tek. The emails showed that Hanxin Microelectronics had long been assisting M~Tek in promoting chip products with backdoor vulnerabilities in our province and collecting sensitive data under the guise of technical cooperation."

Chen Ping picked up a document, the text of which was enlarged and displayed on the big screen. It was Zhang Tao's handwritten confession, along with some email screenshots.

"Even more shocking is that Zhang Tao also confessed that Hanxin Microelectronics had repeatedly attempted to use technical means to hack into the internal network of the Chipfire Project laboratory and steal the research and development data of Professor Gu's team." Chen Pingfang's voice echoed in the silent conference room.

"Just last night, Zhang Tao even instigated others to attempt to physically attack a reporter from a media outlet in our province in order to prevent the publication of related reports."

The conference room erupted in uproar.

"Director Sun, are we just going to let your relatives' company wreak havoc on our province's information security and the country's strategic plans?" Chen Pingfang's question made Sun Heming feel ashamed.

Sun Heming's face had completely lost all color. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open. Two uniformed disciplinary committee staff members walked in with serious expressions. They went straight to Sun Heming.

"Comrade Sun Heming, please come with us to assist in the investigation," one of them said in a deep voice.

Sun Heming swayed slightly, looking at Secretary Deshan in disbelief. Secretary Deshan simply shook his head slightly at Sun Heming without saying a word.

Sun Heming was taken away by disciplinary officials; the entire process was swift and decisive, giving no one time to react. In the conference room, everyone was stunned by this scene, and fell silent.

Secretary Deshan's gaze swept across the entire room once more, and his voice was loud and powerful.

"In view of the current severe information security situation and the importance of the Chip Spark Program, the Standing Committee has decided that, effective immediately, the Chip Spark Program will be officially designated as a major strategic project directly under the provincial government and will be directly led by the provincial government."

Secretary Deshan looked at Governor Liu Mingyuan, who nodded in response.

"At the same time, in order to better promote the development of the semiconductor industry in our province, the Standing Committee has decided to establish a Provincial Semiconductor Industry Leading Group." Secretary Deshan's gaze fell on Chen Pingfang.

"Headed by Governor Liu Mingyuan, with Comrade Chen Pingfang as the executive deputy leader, the group has the authority to make decisions on the allocation of industrial resources without prior approval."