US government warns Germany about Huawei

Brussels, Berlin It was a first in the history of NATO: At the Madrid summit in the summer, the member states of the defense alliance decided on a strategic concept that, for the first time, describes China as a challenge to transatlantic security. The USA in particular are urging that the growing power of the People’s Republic be given more attention. The new strategy concept is only the beginning for the Americans. They demand concrete political results.

That is why, alongside Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, dealing with China is also on the agenda of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Bucharest. This Wednesday, Allianz wants to discuss how to arm itself against Chinese influence campaigns and attempts at blackmail.

“The United States believes that we cannot allow untrustworthy providers to participate in our digital infrastructure, including our 5G network,” US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told Handelsblatt.

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The use of such providers would entail “unacceptable risks to national security” and at the same time pose a threat to the privacy of citizens.

Julianne Smith

The US ambassador to NATO addresses clear words to the allies in the alliance.

(Photo: AP)

The warning from close confidants of US President Joe Biden is primarily aimed at Germany. While other major European NATO countries, such as France and Great Britain, have long since set limits to Huawei, the federal government is allowing the network operators Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica to install Chinese components on a large scale.

The mobile phone providers want to do without Huawei in the so-called core network. There, data flows together on servers, which is why it is considered particularly sensitive. In the much larger access network, i.e. the antennas and base stations distributed across the country, the companies continue to rely on components from China. Security experts have been pointing out for years that with the introduction of 5G – the fifth generation of mobile communications, which is intended to enable significantly faster data connections – more and more computing power is shifting to the access network.

>> Also read here: Protection from investors from China: How the traffic light wants to shield critical infrastructure

When building its 5G network, the USA is primarily relying on the European providers Ericsson and Nokia. Just a few days ago, the US telecommunications authority FCC issued a ban on Chinese IT products. “As a result of our order, no new Huawei or ZTE devices can be approved,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also repeatedly points out the dangers of a tech partnership with China. “We see the Chinese increasingly trying to control our critical infrastructure, our supply chains and our key industries,” he said last week. NATO should not allow authoritarian regimes to exploit weaknesses. “It is therefore imperative that we strengthen the resilience of our societies and our infrastructure.”

The federal government is also coming under pressure domestically

The federal government would have the legal option to severely restrict the use of Huawei components. The IT Security Act, which was tightened last year, makes it possible to ban critical components if the use of the components conflicts with the “security policy goals of the Federal Republic of Germany, the EU or NATO” or the manufacturer is “directly or indirectly controlled by the government, including other state bodies bodies or armed forces of a third country”.

But the Interior Ministry has limited the implementation of the regulations to the bare minimum – not only to the frustration of the USA. Criticism is also stirring in the governing parties. The digital policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Jens Zimmermann, calls on the federal government to “fully exploit” the scope of the IT security law and to exclude network suppliers whose trustworthiness cannot be guaranteed.

>> Also read here: Duisburg puts controversial cooperation with tech group Huawei on eggs

He also told the Handelsblatt that he expected “more sensitivity” from the German mobile network operators: “It seems to me that the principle still prevails too much here: We do everything that is not expressly forbidden.” Should this continue, Zimmermann sees “the Necessity to sharpen the law again”.

Huawei says of itself that it is a private company owned by its employees. However, the IT group has a special relationship with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. Founder Ren Zhengfei served in China’s People’s Liberation Army for nine years. Again and again, representatives of the Chinese regime have campaigned publicly, sometimes with explicit threats – for example against Germany – for the company to be involved in the 5G expansion.

The Chancellor’s Cosco decision is met with incomprehension

In addition, all companies in China are subject to the National Intelligence Law, which stipulates that every organization must cooperate with the Chinese security organs. Unlike in Germany or the USA, for example, companies in China cannot defend themselves against this obligation to cooperate in court.

The Huawei controversy is part of the larger debate about how to deal with China, in which the US and the federal government are consistently at odds. Basically, the US side sees that the German government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is more critical of China than was the case under his predecessor Angela Merkel (CDU).

However, the decision to allow the Chinese state-owned company Cosco to participate in a terminal in the Port of Hamburg met with incomprehension. Scholz had prevailed against a number of ministries, in particular the Greens-led Foreign Office had warned against involvement. The decision was also met with criticism from European partners.

Discussions within the government also continue. The China strategy, which the federal government is currently preparing under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, advocates better protection of critical infrastructure.

In a first draft, which is available to the Handelsblatt, it says that Germany is aiming for a uniform and stricter examination of investments from third countries in critical infrastructure and other sensitive areas by all EU member states. “In addition to Chinese investments in ports, investments in rail networks are also of particular sensitivity in the EU and in the European neighborhood,” writes the Federal Foreign Office.

More: EU calls for immediate restrictions on “high-risk suppliers” in the 5G network

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