Hardline Stance on Excluding Chinese 5G Infrastructure
In Europe, there is a growing movement to explicitly exclude Chinese telecommunications equipment companies such as Huawei from the construction of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication infrastructure. This is interpreted as a shift in the stance of European authorities, who had previously moderated their approach to decoupling from China for practical reasons related to trade and the economy.
According to major foreign media on the 15th (local time), the European Union (EU) executive body, the European Commission, urged member states to ban the use of Huawei and ZTE in the process of building 5G networks.
On the same day, Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, held a press conference and stated that out of the 27 member states, only 10 have so far implemented measures to restrict or exclude 'high-risk suppliers,' urging more member states to participate.
He pointed out that "(the pace of member states' participation) is too slow and poses a serious security risk, exposing the EU's collective security to danger," emphasizing that the actions of the 10 countries that have imposed bans are "justified."
He also announced plans to prohibit Huawei and ZTE from participating in future public tenders related to telecommunications services within the region. If such bans are actually enforced, there is speculation that telecommunications companies already using Chinese-made components may have to replace them.
Earlier, Germany announced in April that it had begun inspections of all Chinese-made components installed in its telecommunications networks due to security concerns, and around the same time, Portugal passed a resolution banning the use of Chinese telecommunications equipment.
Until now, some European countries including Germany had hesitated to explicitly ban the use of Huawei components, but concerns have been growing that these telecommunications parts could be exploited for Chinese espionage activities or sabotage operations.
The European Commission had previously adopted guidelines in January 2020 stating that when building 5G networks, suppliers posing security risks could have their supply of key components restricted or banned.
At that time, the measure was widely interpreted as targeting China, but since it was a non-binding guideline and did not specifically name Chinese companies such as Huawei, it was analyzed that the EU had moderated its stance considering its relationship with China.
There have been voices of dissatisfaction in the United States regarding the EU's ambiguous response, but recently, as the EU has been exploring ways to reduce its dependence on China for core technologies, the trend appears to be shifting toward a tougher stance.
In this context, the Chinese government and related companies such as Huawei and ZTE have maintained that these claims are false and stem from protectionism aimed at supporting competitors outside China, effectively targeting the United States.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
