Warning: Europe May Put U.S. Military at Risk by Using Chinese 5G Tech
by JOHN HAYWARD
BREITBART.COM
4 Apr 2019
Six retired U.S. defense officials issued a statement on Wednesday warning that European and Asian partners could put American military operations at risk if they use Chinese technology in their 5G networks.
Numerous current Pentagon officials have also warned that equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei could expose American forces to cyber-espionage if they use European 5G networks.
“Chinese-designed 5G networks will provide near-persistent data transfer back to China that the Chinese government could capture at will,” said the statement signed by former commanders of the U.S. European, Southern, and Pacific Commands, plus former U.S. Cyber Command chief Gen. Keith B. Alexander and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
“This is not our opinion or even that of our intelligence community, but the directive of China’s 2017 Intelligence Law, which legally requires that ‘any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with’ the security services of China’s One-Party State,” the authors went on to explain.
The 2017 Chinese law referenced by the authors represents a major problem for defenders of Huawei and other Chinese tech firms, since it contains precisely the directive described by the signatories of the statement. The law quite literally makes spying for the Chinese Communist Party the sworn duty of every single Chinese citizen.
This is not a theoretical requirement to be invoked in some future moment of unthinkable emergency; the Intelligence Law rewards active and constant participation by Chinese firms and severely punishes the slightest hesitation to comply with Beijing’s espionage demands.
The statement noted that the “immense bandwidth and access potential” of 5G wireless networks, which will be vastly superior to the 4G networks common today, will make them very attractive to military planners, but the vulnerabilities introduced by Chinese hardware will force American commanders to think twice about using them.
“There is reason for concern that in the future the U.S. will not be able to use networks that rely on Chinese technology for military operations in the territories of traditional U.S. allies or emerging partners in Europe, Asia, and beyond,” the statement declared.
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