EU Can Show Independence From US Pressure By Making Commercial Choice With Huawei

US attempts to make European states shun Huawei's technology are motivated by Washington's desire to ensure leading positions in the European market but provide a chance for Europe to send a signal that the days of "cold war" style political pressure are over and that it will make its own decisions based on commercial interests, experts told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) - US attempts to make European states shun Huawei's technology are motivated by Washington's desire to ensure leading positions in the European market but provide a chance for Europe to send a signal that the days of "cold war" style political pressure are over and that it will make its own decisions based on commercial interests, experts told Sputnik.

During his European visit this week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned against using Huawei's technology as doing so could damage European states' relationship with Washington. He then said that the United States would not place its technology in countries where there was a risk of hacking by China.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has expressed its concerns over Pompeo's remarks, stressing that they were "extremely hypocritical, unjust and immoral" and urging the United States to respect fair competition.

The threats made by Pompeo are motivated by a strong desire to take the lead in the lucrative communications industry, Richard Anderson Falk, the Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University, told Sputnik.

"It seems a matter of gaining leverage for American and maybe European competitors of Huawei, and offsetting their apparent technological lead in this critical communications frontier," Falk said.

Mick Dunford, the University of Sussex professor of economic geography focusing on relations between Europe and China, noted that 5G wireless technology developed by Huawei was unmatched.

"As for Huawei, it is the world leader in 5G wireless technology and perhaps alone at present has the capacity to develop entire 5G networks," he told Sputnik.

Huawei Deputy Chairman of the board Ken Hu claimed in December that the company's 5G technology was a year ahead of its rivals, and experts reportedly agree with such assessments.

At the same time, Pompeo's statement was not only about economic competition against Huawei, but should be seen as part of the country's larger geopolitical struggle against China as well, Falk noted.

"The strong impression is that Pompeo is worried about China gaining influence in Europe at the expense of the United States. I believe Pompeo's warning that if Hungary and other governments in Europe do business with Huawei on the 5G network it would become 'more difficult for us to partner with you' is both a political and economic attempt to discourage normal dealing with this Chinese company," he said.

According to the expert, such rhetoric is rather common in international relations, but normally takes place "behind closed doors."

"During the [US President Donald] Trump presidency what has usually been discussed discreetly and non-provocatively in the past is now shouted from the rooftops. Such a crude diplomacy naturally raises global tensions, and gives rise to retaliatory threats and moves," Falk warned.

Pompeo's statement has also been slammed by Professor Wu Xinbo, the director of Center for American Studies Dean Institute of International Studies at the Fudan University, who noted in his comments to Sputnik that the remarks indicated Washington's desperate attempts to counteract China.

"The U.S. hunt for Huawei, not just within the US, but globally, reflects the strong impulse in Washington to compete strategically with China. The open, direct and outrageous pressure that Washington exercises on others is in line with the rouge fashion as manifested in Trump administration's diplomacy, implying the lack of decency and self-restraint on the part of a desperate Washington," Wu said.

The US government has repeatedly voiced its suspicion that the Chinese telecommunications giant's equipment, especially for 5G, might be used for espionage purposes. Dunford, however, pointed out to invalidity of the security concerns voiced by Washington.

"In my view China is serious in saying that it will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. In that situation using technologies developed by Chinese companies does not pose a threat," Dunford said.

Falk highlighted that there was an "element of hypocrisy" in the security threat allegations made by the United States, explaining that Washington itself had been engaged in large-scale surveillance operations around the world, including Europe.

"The United States has for decades engaged in extensive surveillance operations globally that pose grave threats to privacy and sovereign rights of all countries, including its friends and allies. To complain about China is to give the false impression that other political actors in the West have not pushed the boundaries of technology precisely to gain intelligence advantages and possible leverage for intervention in the internal affairs of other countries to the extent that they possess the technological capacity to do so. It [Pompeo's statement] also tells the peoples and governments of Europe that are better off being vulnerable to American 5G penetration than to Chinese penetration," the expert stressed.

Some European countries have reportedly begun considering a ban on use of Huawei's technology in the development of 5G networks. Media reports in January named Germany among countries mulling such a step, but German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier said last week that the government had been only checking electronic devices produced by the Chinese tech giant. In late January, UK telecommunications conglomerate Vodafone said that it suspended the use of equipment manufactured by Huawei in its core networks in Europe.

According to Dunford, the European countries a better off deciding on the use of Huawei products based on their own economic interests and countering the US attempts to dominate in the market at Europe's expense.

"Europeans should simply make commercial decisions about Huawei products, keeping in mind that Huawei's wireless technologies will permit them to provide their own customers with higher data transfer capacities, faster speeds and new services rather than cut themselves off from advances in technology and should resist attempts by the United States to control critical technologies," the expert said.

If the European Union chooses to use Huawei equipment despite the US pressure, it would send an important signal to Washington, Falk noted.

"The EU and the main governments in Europe are given an opportunity to send Washington two crucial messages: first, 'the Cold War is over, we will seek greater national and regional independence in pursuing our interests;' secondly, 'don't take our friendship and solidarity for granted any longer or we will go elsewhere, and there are places to go,'" he said.

Yet another option for Europe is to develop its own technology that would be more reliable and beneficial rather than chose between Huawei and an "uncertain equivalent development by American companies," the expert pointed out.

"Such European capabilities with regard to G5 network, repairs, and supplies might also give the EU and its members an option of equidistance diplomacy, being neither dependent upon or vulnerable to pressure exerted by either Beijing or Washington," he explained.

Huawei has recently faced allegations that it had been linked to the Chinese government and even has been spying on its behalf, something that the company has vehemently denied. Last year, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States banned the Chinese telecommunications giant from participating in government contracts, while several other countries voiced their own concerns over Huawei's activities.