Credit: Peter Sayer/IDG
Fighting words from the US
These cracks were visible at the just-concluded Munich security conference. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper warned that alliances, including the future of NATO itself, were in jeopardy if European countries went ahead with using Huawei technology in their 5G networks.
In an unusually sharp and direct criticism of China, Esper described Huawei as the “China poster child for its nefarious industrial strategy”, one that is “fuelled by theft and coercion and the exploitation of free-market, private companies and universities”. He added:
Reliance on Chinese 5G vendors could render our partners’ critical systems vulnerable to disruption, manipulations and espionage.
The Chinese Communist Party is heading even faster and further in the wrong direction with more internal repression, more predatory behavior, more heavy-handedness and a more aggressive military posture. It is essential that the international community wake up to the challenge.
These are fighting words, but it is at least questionable whether Washington, with the assistance of allies like Australia, will prevail in its efforts to shut Huawei and other Chinese technology companies out of the biggest and most lucrative market of the 21st century – advanced technology.
If there was a consensus among the participants in Munich, it was that Western countries needed to tread warily in absorbing Chinese technology into their communications systems to the point where dependence on China would become irreversible.
A smattering of officials, including Fu Ying, former ambassador to Britain and Australia, represented Beijing at the conference. She posed a rhetorical question that will have resonated with some attendees:
Do you really think the democratic system is so fragile it could be threatened by this single high-tech company, Huawei?
US moves in court against Huawei
Meanwhile, Washington added fuel to an already heated “technology war” by charging Huawei and two of its subsidiaries with federal racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets from US companies.
This represents a significant escalation in the US campaign against Huawei.
Washington is accusing Huawei of purloining trade secrets, including source codes and wireless technology, from six companies. These were were not named but are believed to include US technology giants Cisco and Motorola.
These “racketeering” charges are separate from extradition hearings in Canada involving Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder.
Washington is seeking Meng’s extradition on charges of participating in a decade-long attempt by the company to steal state secrets, obstruct a criminal investigation and evade economic sanctions against Iran.
Whether it likes it or not, the Australian government finds itself attached to an American campaign against Huawei and, in turn, a slew of other Chinese companies.
Leaving aside a conventional trade war between the US and China over soybeans and consumer durables, a technology conflict will prove longer lasting and certainly more disruptive.
Tony Walker is Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
