The New York Times frontpages a remarkable story today that reveals how the Chinese government is brazenly attempting to intimidate Germany into buying telecommunications systems from Huawei. The leverage Beijing is using is the success of German automakers in the Chinese market. The Americans are urging allies not to buy Huawei’s gear because of the obvious fear that Beijing will use those systems for espionage. the Chinese, in turn, are threatening to hurt Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, all of which have major positions in the Chinese market.
The Chinese pressure campaign is not occuring behind closed doors. It’s public. “If Germany were to make a decision that led to Huawei’s exclusion from the German market, there will be consequences,” Wu Ken, China’s ambassador to Germany, said. “The Chinese government will not stand idly by.”
This is remarkable for several reasons. First, Germany isn’t a Central American banana republic or a South Pacific atoll. It is a major power in Europe and the world. The fact that the Chinese government is, in effect, bullying it reveals the sheer scale of China’s ambitions to project power in the world. It already has established major port projects in Italy and Greece, giving it influential footholds in those countries. But now it is openly seeking to force Germany into making a decision that benefits a Chinese company.
Secondly, the good ambassador’s remarks demonstrate that there is a clear connection between the central government in Beijing and Huawei, which has sought to portray itself as a private sector company that operates at arm’s length from the government. It’s clear that Beijing sees Huawei as part of a national strategy to project power and gain intelligence.
All this is part of a global showdown over whose technologies and whose systems will prevail, a kind of technological bifurcation between a U.S.-led bloc and a Chinese-dominated bloc. Europe is ahead of the United States in the race for 5G wireless telecommunications networks because Nokia of Finland and Ericsson of Sweden make 5G gear. But installing that equipment would take longer and be more expensive than going with Huawei because the Chinese company is already a “huge part of the existing networks in Germany,” according to the Times.
All of this sets up a crucial decision for Germany. Does it want to accept short-term gains of getting into bed with Huawei or does it want to focus on long-term strategic issues? The short-term versus long-term problem is one that infects American decision-making across the board. I hope Germany will do a better job of seeing the full picture of China’s ambitions to dominate.
