China Youth Daily Client Brussels, November 4th (China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Ju Hui in the EU) In response to the Swedish government’s “threatening national security”, it announced that Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE were banned from participating in 5G network construction.
All walks of life in China have expressed criticism and opposition. Relevant people believe that this kind of behavior to politicize business issues under the guise of “endangering safety” openly hinders fair competition and technological progress, and will inevitably harm the interests of all parties, including Swedish enterprises and consumers, and harm others but not themselves.
On October 20, the Swedish Postal and Telecommunications Administration announced that it would prohibit telecom operators that will soon participate in the country’s 5G spectrum auction from using equipment provided by Chinese companies.
The Swedish military and security authorities declared that China is “one of the biggest security threats” facing Sweden. The Swedish authorities also require related telecommunications companies to dismantle Huawei and ZTE equipment in their existing network facilities before January 1, 2025.
Frederick Bardan (Hu Leide), CEO of Belgian Sybex China Europe Business Consulting Company, interviewed by a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily.
Frederic Bardan (Chinese name Hu Leide), CEO of Belgian Sybex China Europe Business Consulting Company, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network on November 3 that Sweden has banned 5G equipment from Chinese companies such as Huawei.
Discriminatory practices are flagrant violations of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Without any evidence, the Swedish government used the so-called “threats to national security” to exclude Chinese companies such as Huawei from 5G network construction. This runs counter to the “presumption of innocence” principle generally upheld by EU countries.
Hu Leide pointed out that on the one hand, the Swedish authorities have unprovoked suppression of law-abiding Chinese telecom technology companies, while on the other hand they have selectively turned a blind eye to the notorious US cyber espionage. This blatant “double standard” is based entirely on ideology. Behind it is the Cold War mentality of the United States trying to contain Europe and contain China’s peaceful development.
Hu Leide said that a few Western countries, including Sweden, often use the “China National Security Law” as an excuse to “convict” Chinese companies such as Huawei, but they cannot produce a convincing piece of evidence; the US government has passed it in recent years. Domestic laws such as the “Clarification of the Lawful Use of Data Abroad” and other domestic laws use international Internet giants to openly obtain massive amounts of European data.
Recently, the U.S. Congress is also actively preparing for the introduction of the “Legal Access to Encrypted Data Act”, which puts a new “legal” cloak on the U.S. government to spy on online privacy at will. Hu Leide asked: “Europeans should ask themselves, who is threatening Europe’s cyber security and strategic interests?”
The European Competitive Telecommunications Association recently issued a statement condemning any ban on Chinese 5G suppliers for geopolitical reasons, warning that this will bring about negative effects such as delays in the EU’s 5G deployment. The statement pointed out that excluding specific suppliers will harm the interests of consumers and the telecommunications industry, and undermine the cohesion of the market.
Any political decision that disregards facts will not only severely restrict the pace of European 5G network construction and technological innovation capabilities, but will also have a wide-ranging and far-reaching negative impact on the recovery and development of the European economy and society.
In an interview with the media, the director-general of the association, Luc Andrex, also said: “The supervision of the telecommunications industry needs to be based on facts, and restricting competition will distort the entire telecommunications industry industrial chain, supply chain, and value chain.
Geopolitics should not be allowed to affect 5G networks Deployment. “The members of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association cover more than 100 leading telecommunications operators and digital solution providers in Europe, and have always advocated the establishment of a fair and competitive telecommunications market environment.
Andricks said: “Our members agree that Chinese companies have reliable technology and guaranteed equipment quality. Chinese companies’ participation in the world’s 5G network layout will help promote the development of related industries.”
Recently, the EU-China Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the European Commission and the ministers of telecommunications and trade of the 27 EU countries on the issue of 5G network security, opposing the politicization of commercial issues and the generalization of security issues.
The EU-China Chamber of Commerce stated that the politicization of any commercial matter will hinder objective analysis based on facts, which may lead to unfounded decisions. When dealing with technical issues, any form of political debate should be avoided.
The EU-China Chamber of Commerce also pointed out that China and the EU need to be mutually beneficial and strengthen cooperation in the field of communications.
For a long time, Ericsson and Nokia have been deeply and extensively involved in the construction of 2G, 3G and 4G core networks in the Chinese telecommunications market, and have occupied a large market share. At present, Ericsson and Nokia are participating in China’s 5G construction. China has never said that they pose a threat to security, and still welcomes the investment of foreign companies with an inclusive and open attitude.
Zhou Lihong, president of the EU-China Chamber of Commerce, emphasized that any discriminatory and possible xenophobic attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent with the spirit of free and open market economy and the free movement of people, materials, trade, investment, and technology that the EU has consistently advocated.
China and the EU are currently conducting high-level dialogues in the field of digital economy. Strengthening cooperation in the digital field is crucial to achieving mutual benefit.
On November 1, Gui Congyou, the Chinese Ambassador to Sweden, published a signed article entitled “Cooperating to Build 5G for the Benefit of All Mankind” in Swedish “Industry Today”.
The article pointed out that the construction of global 5G networks was originally a “consortium” of open cooperation among multinational companies such as Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia.
If any one or two of Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and other related companies are excluded, it will not only make the global 5G construction unable to use the advanced technology and equipment mastered by each company, affect the technical level of 5G network construction, but also slow down the global 5G construction
The process has greatly increased the cost of 5G construction in various countries, causing consumers to suffer economic losses. Gui Congyou said in the article that network security is undoubtedly a new challenge facing all countries. China is also a victim of cyber security incidents and has been working hard to maintain national and global cyber security.
China hopes to work with the international community to jointly maintain global networks and digital security through cooperation. Gui Congyou emphasized that fear of competition cannot bring about technological progress, but can only lead to backwardness.
Trying to monopolize can’t stop the progress of others, it can only cause one to stop. Refusal to cooperate cannot maintain one’s own temporary advantages. Only by working together can we make progress together. Self-isolation cannot solve one’s own security. Only by working together can we achieve common security.
