The controversy that surrounds Huawei is not about the trade war between the US and China or about the theft of data. It’s about being able to turn off access to people’s services and contents on the net.
Since December 2018 an increasing number of Huawei employees have been detained. It began with the arrest of the daughter of the founder of the company who was serving as finance director. Then we had the arrest in Poland and in the last few days Denmark has deported two Huawei employees.
Poland and Europe alike need digital independence not only from China but also the US
The reason for these events lies in the 5G technology which is the new standard for mobile internet connectivity. Huawei is dominant in this market segment and is the supplier of the equipment necessary for the new telecommunications infrastructure. Chinese decision makers are counting on their company’s global domination of the process and development of the new technology.
In Europe, 90 percent of the IT infrastructure comes from appliances produced in Asia. This is why the US suspect that in a conflict situation China would be able to switch off the infrastructure.
The switching off the web could have similar consequences to the harsh winter of the century that afflicted the Polish economy 40 years ago. Poland and Europe alike need digital independence not only from China but also the US. The testimony of Edward Snowden shows that the US may also have similar ideas to the Chinese.
