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US warns Germany that using Huawei tech will come at a cost
The basic problem is that although Huawei is acknowledged as the world leader in 5G technology, it also partners with China's PLA (People's Liberation Army) hacker units to conduct foreign espionage and the theft of intellectual property (patents/blueprints). For the past 6 months the Pentagon has been engaged in removing Russia/China hardware/software from its networks. This has proven more challenging than originally anticipated because for example a motherboard made in Japan can contain one Chinese chip. A US software program can contain one line of code borrowed from a Russian source. You get the idea. It's far easier to root out what you suspect right from the outset rather than having to root suspicious things out after the networks have been established and have become legacy.
3/11/19
The US has underscored to Germany its threat to limit intelligence sharing with countries that use Chinese tech giant Huawei to build their 5G communications networks. US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell sent a letter to the German government last week threatening to curtail German access to US intelligence if Berlin decides to issue contracts to Huawei, according to a US official familiar with the matter. "The Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy has indeed received a letter; there is no comment on its content from their side. There will be a quick reply," said Matthias Wehler, spokesperson at the German embassy in DC. Germany announced March 7 that it wouldn't ban any company from bidding on 5G contracts. The letter, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, echoes a steady drumbeat of warnings by top US officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, who flagged Huawei's alleged connections to Chinese intelligence and its ability to compromise national security by selling equipment with "backdoors" that could allow for unauthorized surveillance.
As the US lobbies against Huawei, now the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, the issue is straining US ties with some allies and is becoming a potent irritant in a US-China relationship already strained by trade friction. China and Huawei have vigorously pushed back on the US charges and the telecom giant has filed suit against the US over the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which bans US federal agencies from buying Huawei products. The public US pressure campaign on allies to reject Huawei follows the Trump administration's request for Canada to arrest Huawei's deputy chairwoman Meng Wangzhou for Iran sanctions violations. The US has pushed for a ban on Huawei technology with the UK, Australia, Poland, the European Union, the Philippines and a slew of other countries. Security concerns have led Australia to completely ban the company's technology and New Zealand has moved to partially restrict it. In February, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the costs of adopting Huawei technology explicit to European colleagues. Speaking in Hungary, the top US diplomat said that if allies choose Huawei equipment and it "is co-located where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them."
The basic problem is that although Huawei is acknowledged as the world leader in 5G technology, it also partners with China's PLA (People's Liberation Army) hacker units to conduct foreign espionage and the theft of intellectual property (patents/blueprints). For the past 6 months the Pentagon has been engaged in removing Russia/China hardware/software from its networks. This has proven more challenging than originally anticipated because for example a motherboard made in Japan can contain one Chinese chip. A US software program can contain one line of code borrowed from a Russian source. You get the idea. It's far easier to root out what you suspect right from the outset rather than having to root suspicious things out after the networks have been established and have become legacy.