By labeling Huawei suspect, US will block 5G’s progress

The blueprint that cybersecurity officials from 30 countries worked out in Prague on Friday, although non-binding, shows their aim is to try and exclude Huawei, the largest telecommunications infrastructure equipment maker, from the construction of telecom networks in these countries. The blueprint, called the “Prague Proposals”, says the “overall risk of influence on a supplier by a third country”, especially in relation to its “model of governance, the absence of cooperation agreements on security” should be taken into account. It also says the “security and risk assessment of vendors and network technologies” should consider the rule of law, the security environment, and compliance with “open, interoperable, secure standards and industry practices”.

Which fits in with the narrative the United States has been using to persuade, even coerce its allies to not use the Chinese company’s equipment in their 5G networks.

As such, despite the fact that the Czech government organized the cybersecurity conference, there are enough reasons to believe it was part of the US’ move to set cybersecurity rules to exclude Huawei from participating in the construction of 5G telecom networks in developed countries after many of its allies refused to heed its call to ban the Chinese company from their 5G networks.

The US has urged its allies to factor in the laws and the judicial system of a country where a 5G supplier is based, saying that China’s “lack of independent judiciary” means that companies have “no legal recourse” if they don’t want to comply with Beijing’s orders.

By drawing such a ridiculous conclusion, the US seems desperate to disprove the fact that there is no evidence to even suggest Huawei used its telecom equipment to conduct surveillance on behalf of the Chinese government. By contrast, there is enough evidence that the US has been eavesdropping on not only its own citizens but also the leaders of its allied countries.

Perhaps the US wants to keep Chinese companies out of Western countries’ 5G networks because it fears that they could soon make China the leader in the field of science and technology.

But what the US is actually doing is trying to fulfill its own narrow political goals and, in the process, blocking the development of the telecom industry worldwide. And the politicization of what ought to be fair competition in the telecom sector will go down as a scandal in human history.