Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese telecommunications giants, “pose a threat and should be excluded from 5G.” This was announced yesterday by the European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
These companies will be “high-risk vendors, specifically because they are subject to very intrusive third-country national intelligence and data security regulations.” Therefore, the decision made by some of the member states to exclude Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks is “reasonable and in line with European Union guidelines.” In short, the risk is that Huawei transmits any information that passes through its lines to the Chinese government.
The reaction was not long in coming, “Huawei strongly objects and disagrees with the comments of the European Commission representatives. They are clearly not based on verified, transparent, objective, and technical assessments of 5G networks. Publicly designating an organization as an ‘HRV’ (High Risk Vendor) without a legal basis is against free trade principles. It is extremely important to emphasize that a discriminatory HRV rating should not be applied to any company without a reasonable due process and a proper hearing. As an economic operator in the European Union, Huawei has procedural and substantive rights and must be protected by the laws of the EU and its member states, as well as their international obligations.”