Huawei has again been within the highlight in Europe after a report suggested Germany could ban among the Chinese telecommunications giant’s devices from its 5G network.
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A senior European Union official has called on more EU countries to ban Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks, increasing tensions with Beijing.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said he wanted more member states to remove “high-risk” providers equivalent to Huawei and ZTE from upgrading mobile web infrastructure, citing national security risks.
In January 2020, the EU adopted a “5G Cybersecurity Toolkit” aimed toward identifying the risks of adopting some 5G infrastructure providers for its deployment. This happened when several countries, including the UK, decided to ban Huawei due to security concerns.
“We are going to proceed to work with determination with lagging member states and telecommunications operators,” Breton said on Thursday. speech.
“I can only stress how necessary it’s to speed up the choice to replace high-risk providers with their 5G networks. I actually have also reminded concerned telecommunications operators that it’s time to tackle this problem.”
Breton said only 10 EU countries have restricted or blocked Huawei’s access to their 5G networks to this point.
“For our part, the Commission will implement the principles of the 5G toolkit in its own telecoms procurement to avoid exposure to Huawei and ZTE,” Breton said.
China subsequently stated that it strongly opposed Huawei’s ban imposed by some EU countries and that the Commission had no legal basis to ban the corporate, according to Reuters, which cited a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry.
Breton’s comments follow news that Germany is considering whether to ban Huawei and ZTE from their 5G network over alleged threats to national security. In response, the Chinese embassy in Germany said it was “surprised and really unhappy” concerning the reports.
Huawei and ZTE didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The US and its allies, including the UK and Australia, have banned Huawei from operating on their 5G networks.
Washington officials say Huawei and ZTE technology might be utilized by Beijing for espionage. Each the businesses and Beijing have denied the allegations.
The EU has previously referred to China as a “partner”, “economic competitor” and “systemic rival”.
Recently, nevertheless, it has been leaning towards some “systemic rivals”, trying to keep China close as a partner while remaining wary of its growing influence on the event of critical technologies.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a speech earlier this yr that she believed the European Union should reassess its relationship with Beijing – although she said “separation” from China was not within the EU’s best interests . As a substitute, she said, she should seek to “reduce risks” in her dealings with China.
Operators have struggled to replace Huawei because the infrastructure provider for his or her mobile networks. Industry officials say Huawei’s technology is usually cheaper and more advanced than that offered by rivals equivalent to Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.