US tries to persuade European countries to ban Huawei technology

US representatives at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona Spain are busy trying to convince European countries to ban the Chinese tech giant Huawei from 5G Internet networks.

The US argues that Huawei is a security risk in that it could give the Chinese government intelligence access to snoop on Internet users worldwide. Huawei rejects the US claims and says that the US is trying to stifle China's economic and technological advancement. The move could also be meant to cramp Chinese competition with US firms. Finally, the US may want to press for countries to buy US-based technology which no doubt also has spying capacities.

Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chair poked fun at US Intelligence in a keynote speech at the MWC saying:“PRISM, PRISM, on the wall, who is the most trustworthy of them all?” He told the audience that if they did not understand that they could go ask Edward Snowden.

PRISM

WIkipedia describes PRISM as follows:"PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. PRISM collects stored internet communications based on demands made to internet companies such as Google LLC under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to turn over any data that match court-approved search terms...PRISM began in 2007 in the wake of the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration.[10][11] The program is operated under the supervision of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court, or FISC) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).[12] Its existence was leaked six years later by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew and included what he characterized as "dangerous" and "criminal" activities."

European Industry leaders skeptical and cautious about the US approach

Leaders in EU telecommunications industry and policy chiefs said that facts not fears should decide the future of telecom network security in Europe rejecting a ban on Huawei a position pushed by the US. Mobile operators are concerned that a blanket ban could result in a delay of 5G connections by years.

Analyst Frank Gillett said: “You’re going to see a messy, essentially managed response that will probably vary in detail from country to country. In the end it’s about containing and managing the risk of Huawei, as well as any other vendor, but particularly Huawei.”

Ping met with government and industry partners at the MWC to try and reassure them in the light of US accusations according to people cognizant of what is happening. Guo claimed at the Congress: “Let experts decide whether networks are safe or not. The U.S. security accusation of our 5G has no evidence, nothing.”

NIck Read of Vodafone also appeared to support Guo saying that the US should share any evidence it had about Huawei. The European Commission also warned against making any premature decisions based on partial analysis of the facts.

US officials insist that European governments listen to the US message

Robert Strayer , the US State Department ambassador for cyber and international communications said that the US had been quite successful in convincing governments to think about threats to their future infrastructure. Strayer said that the threats from Huawei and other Chinese firms come from the Chinese 2017 National Intelligence Law that requires that organizations and citizens in accordance with the law support, cooperate with and collaborate in national intelligence work. Is this any different than the US laws that allow PRISM?

Europe is split on the Huawei issue. The Czech Republic and Poland have both voiced concerns but the UK claims that it can manage any risks. Jeremy Fleming , head of the UK's GCHQ signals intelligence service said: “We have to understand the opportunities and threats from China’s technological offer.”

The UK position has helped some European governments also accept the risks of using Huawei as manageable especially since the UK is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing group that includes the US. No doubt the US is unhappy with the UK position and hoped that the UK would push for the US policy.

Paul Triolo, of the Eurasia Group research firm said that the US faced an uphill battle trying to convince the telecoms industry to ditch Huawei. The US may face an even harder battle trying to convince countries in Asia and Africa and elsewhere to join in to ban Huawei.