5G is rolling out around the world.
5G is a form of critical national infrastructure.
That's Bethany.
I'm the China reporter at Axios.
As countries rush to deploy 5G faster, they're having to choose between how the U.S. wants
that deployment to happen and how China sees it working.
China wants everyone to use Huawei, their biggest telecommunications company.
But the U.S. wants everyone to use anything but Huawei.
That's because Huawei can build 5G hardware, devices,
and networks, giving them a lot of power.
And without any U.S. competitors, Washington is worried.
Washington views Huawei as a major security concern.
That's because Huawei has close ties to the Chinese government.
Although, both Huawei and China say that there's nothing to worry about.
But that's not stopping countries around the world from worrying.
The U.S. has three big security concerns about using Huawei.
The first concern is information security.
5G networks will carry a ton of sensitive information.
And having access to all that info is powerful.
If anyone has access to that data, they could potentially use it to find
out specific information about individuals-perhaps Chinese dissidents abroad,
journalists like myself, or government officials.
The second concern?
Economic security.
China's economy is growing, and if Huawei builds out most
of the world's 5G networks, they stand to gain a lot.
All of that data could give them a huge structural advantage
over the future economy of the 21st century.
Because China could potentially mine more data than any other country in the world by far,
that would give it a huge advantage in developing technologies
like artificial intelligence, which will be the foundation
for the most important technologies later in this century.
And finally, there's national security.
Imagine that a 5G provider flips off the switch for 5G.
That could bring everything, from cellular service to national defense, to a standstill.
American companies took advantage of the 4G market.
That paid off, and it also gave us a chance
to set the global standards for these kinds of networks.
And that's exactly what China has to gain if they can win the 5G market.
Now an interesting dynamic here is that Beijing has made it pretty clear that countries
who do accept Huawei and do business with Huawei will receive extra benefits.
And the U.S. is fighting back.
The U.S. has launched a campaign to encourage other countries to choose 5G providers
from democratic nations such as Ericsson from Sweden or Nokia from Finland.
China has responded by threatening countries that say they might reject Huawei.
And the U.S. is particularly concerned about its European allies.
Britain is actually a really interesting case study because, initially,
Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to allow Huawei into some of Britain's 5G networks.
However, Johnson actually backtracked on that.
I don't want, as a U.K. Prime Minister, to put in any infrastructure that is going
to prejudice our national security.
And this is all about who will be the world's next superpower.
What this all really means is that the U.S. is worried about China's authoritarian reach,
and China is worried about being contained.
Here's where we're at: The U.S set the standards for 4G cellular technology, but China has a lot
to gain if they can dominate the 5G market This is really
about who will be the 21st century superpower, as much as it is about technology.
If the U.S. sets the standard,
democratic countries will still have a leg up on the world stage.
But on the other hand...
What we're facing is the possibility of a global surveillance regime.