US official focuses on 5G opportunities during Middle East visit

The US is pressing its case against the Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei as part of a diplomatic offensive that has seen a top American official tour 16 nations in the Middle East and Europe. Speaking at a roundtable on Wednesday from Washington, Keith Krach, US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment, said the US is determined to promote 5G security and its Clean Network programme, taking a swipe at Huawei and its Chinese counterpart ZTE. The Clean Network Initiative is "the Trump Administration’s comprehensive approach to safeguarding the nation’s assets including citizens’ privacy and companies’ most sensitive information from aggressive intrusions by malign actors, such as the Chinese Communist Party", according to the US State Department. It was rolled out in August by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “This programme addresses the longterm threat to data privacy, security and human rights … it is rooted in internationally accepted digital trust standards and built on a coalition of trusted partners and based on rapidly changing technology and economics of global markets,” said Mr Krach, who flew back to Washington after meeting officials in Abu Dhabi. The Clean Network programme fits well with the UAE’s vision of “secure and forwardlooking economy”, he said. “It [the programme] is critical for the UAE to drive private sector investment from the US and other nations.” More than 45 countries, 70 telcos and companies such as Fujitsu, Telefonica, Taiwan Mobile, Softbank, VMWare and Reliance Jio have extended their support to the programme, Krach said.