Chinese officials are urging their Australian counterparts to reconsider the ban on Huawei equipment in national 5G networks.
The restriction was put in place under former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Since Turnbull’s departure earlier this year, his successor Scott Morrison has expressed a more conciliatory tone toward China, prompting Beijing to press for a reversal of the decision.
During briefings this week in Beijing with a delegation of journalists, Chinese representatives repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with Huawei’s exclusion, saying the matter “is not over” and that discussions with Canberra will continue.
As 5G technology will underpin a wider range of critical services than previous mobile generations—supporting smart cities, remote medical procedures, autonomous vehicles, and essential utilities—the security stakes are particularly high.
Earlier this week, Australian spy chief Mike Burgess warned of 5G’s central role:
“5G technology will underpin the communications that Australians rely on every day, from our health systems and the potential applications of remote surgery, to self-driving cars and through to the operation of our power and water supply.”
Security concerns encompass both criminal hackers and potential influence or interference by foreign states. If network equipment were compromised, it could be used for espionage or to disrupt or disable critical infrastructure.
Many governments have singled out Chinese vendors because of an alleged law that could require private firms to cooperate with national intelligence work if ordered by Beijing. Huawei denies that any such law compels it to act on behalf of the Chinese state and rejects claims that it is controlled by the government.
Australia is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The US has long prohibited Chinese telecoms equipment in sensitive networks and continues to lobby allied nations to adopt similar restrictions.
So far, the UK and Canada have declined to impose a blanket ban. Instead, they rely on security agencies to evaluate vendors and inspect equipment before it is deployed in national networks.
Scott Jones, head of Canada’s Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, described the country’s approach:
“We have a very advanced relationship with our telecommunications providers, something that is different from most other countries from what I have seen. We have a program that is very deep in terms of working on increasing that broader resilience piece especially as we are looking at the next-generation telecommunications networks.”
Jones also warned that excluding vendors can reduce supply diversity and potentially increase risk: if a single vendor’s equipment is later found to be compromised, a larger share of the network would be affected.
New Zealand is still developing its policy on the issue.
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