Huawei is back in the spotlight in Europe after reports suggest Germany may ban some of the Chinese telecom giant’s equipment from its 5G network.
Pau Barrena AFP Getty Images
China’s embassy in Germany said it was “confused and deeply dissatisfied” after reports suggested Berlin was planning to ban some equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE on the 5G telecommunications network for national security reasons.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing government sources, that Germany is considering banning certain components from Chinese companies on mobile networks.
A paper by Germany’s interior ministry obtained by Reuters said specific suppliers could be banned from supplying critical components if they were deemed to be directly or indirectly controlled by another country’s government.
If the rule goes into effect, it could mean ripping up equipment already installed in the network and replacing it with another supplier, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters.
Huawei has been accused by some governments, especially the US, of being a national security threat. Washington says Huawei has close ties to China’s communist government and that the company’s network equipment could be used to transmit data on US citizens to authorities in Beijing.
Huawei has repeatedly denied that it poses a national security threat.
in response to China
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Germany said last Tuesday that Huawei had been working in accordance with the country’s laws and regulations and contradicted Germany’s stance, as reported by Reuters.
“In recent years, anti-China countries and forces have continued to try to frame Huawei with false accusations, but there has been no evidence that Huawei’s equipment and components pose a security risk,” the spokesperson said, according to a Google translation. .
“If the report is true, the Chinese side is very confused and very dissatisfied with the hasty decision made by the relevant German government department without any factual basis.”
An embassy spokesman claimed that the ban on Chinese equipment on telecommunications networks “violated economic laws and the principle of fair competition.”
A Huawei spokesperson told CNBC that the company has a “strong security record” in Germany and globally for more than 20 years.
“Huawei believes that there should be an objective and factual discussion about how risks in cyberspace can be mitigated,” the spokesperson said.
ZTE did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Germany follows the UK, the US
Germany’s position on Huawei has been in limbo since the US, under the administration of Donald Trump, began cracking down on the telecom equipment giant.
Europe’s largest economy has been trying to strike a balance between maintaining business ties with China, its biggest trading partner, while weighing geopolitical considerations.
Germany has looked to increase commercial ties with China in recent months, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in November. However, there has been increasing pressure from the US to take a tougher stance on Beijing on technology.
Any decision to block Huawei from 5G networks would mark a big change from 2019 when the country would not take such a step. Since then, Germany has sat on the fence about the Huawei ban as US pressure has mounted and other countries have moved to block equipment from the Chinese company on their networks.
5G is a key technology being pushed amid a broader battle between the US and China over technological supremacy. 5G, as the latest mobile internet standard, is seen as crucial for supporting next-generation infrastructure such as driverless cars, but also has potential military applications.
