US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned European Union communications ministers meeting in Brussels this week that 5G equipment from Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE would expose Europe to the massive theft of personal data and threaten critical infrastructure
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned European Union communications ministers meeting in Brussels this week that 5G equipment from Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE would expose Europe to the massive theft of personal data and threaten critical infrastructure."Just consider Huawei's track record. The company ... is implicated in espionage in the Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands, has allegedly stolen intellectual property from foreign competitors in Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is accused of bribery and corrupt practices in countries like Algeria, Belgium and Sierra Leone," Pompeo wrote in an opinion article for Politico Europe.
Pompeo also charged that Huawei has links to China's People's Liberation Army, receives massive state support that unfairly allows it to undercut prices by market-based rivals and is required by law to provide data to Chinese intelligence services.
"With 5G capabilities, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) could use Huawei or ZTE's access to steal private or proprietary information, or use 'kill switches' to disrupt critical future applications like electrical grids and telesurgery centers," Pompeo said.
One only needs to look at the CCP's "extensive human rights abuses in Xinjiang so clearly laid out in recently leaked documents to see how it is using technology for mass repression," Pompeo added.
Pompeo urged the EU to rely on companies such as Europe-based Ericsson and Nokia and South Korea's Samsung for high-quality, price-competitive 5G equipment - companies that are subject to the rule of law and are therefore accountable for their actions.
