International consensus is growing about the unacceptable risks of using equipment from China’s fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology companies.
Security concerns recently drove the government of Greece and major Canadian wireless communications providers to take steps toward eliminating reliance on Chinese telecommunications companies, including Huawei and ZTE.
“The tide is turning against Huawei as citizens around the world are waking up to the danger of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state,” U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said in a June 24 statement. “Huawei’s deals with telecommunications operators around the world are evaporating because countries are only allowing trusted vendors in their 5G networks.”
Other nations that have chosen trusted vendors over Huawei include Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Denmark and Latvia, Pompeo said. And leading telecom operators in France, South Korea, Japan and India have opted in favor of more trusted providers, he added.
U.S. officials have long said that the People’s Republic of China’s laws requiring Chinese telecom vendors to support China’s intelligence services create significant security risks, including data theft and disruption of essential services.
The U.S. is implementing #5G CLEAN PATH provision of 2019 NDAA. Untrusted vendors like Huawei and ZTE will have no access to @StateDept systems. We’ll follow the letter of law to ensure a clean path for 5G traffic entering our facilities & keep our data safe on the cyber border. pic.twitter.com/30ECJBVju3
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) April 30, 2020
Further, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has bullied nations that raised security concerns. The CCP reportedly threatened to punish British bank HSBC and break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the U.K. in an attempt to coerce London to allow Huawei to build a 5G network, Pompeo said in a June 9 statement. Australia and Denmark have also faced CCP pressure, he said.
The U.S. has banned Huawei and ZTE from government contracts. And the State Department requires a “clean path” for all 5G network traffic between U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world and the United States.
Huawei’s deals with telecom operators around the world are evaporating, because countries are only allowing trusted vendors in their #5G networks. Some of the largest telecoms are becoming “Clean Telcos.” The tide is turning! Learn more: https://t.co/arsw97OUpE pic.twitter.com/JGCywOIkB3
— Under Secretary Keith Krach (@State_E) June 24, 2020
“The momentum in favor of secure 5G is building,” Pompeo added. “The more countries, companies, and citizens ask whom they should trust with their most sensitive data, the more obvious the answer becomes: not the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state.”
