Choosing Huawei is choosing autocracy over democracy – Pelosi warns European countries
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Top US officials have threatened and cajoled European allies as cracks in the western alliance were laid bare at the Munich transatlantic security conference, the Financial Times reports.
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat House of Representatives speaker, issued a rebuke to European countries which are using China’s Huawei to build 5G mobile communications networks, saying they had taken a “very dangerous” path.
“It’s about putting the state police in the pocket of every consumer,” she said on Sunday. “The debate on 5G is about security, it’s about economy, it’s about values.”
Ms Pelosi warned European countries they will “choose autocracy over democracy” if they let China’s Huawei take part in rolling out 5G technology. Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary-general, warned on Saturday that countries shouldn’t be tempted to trade short-term economic benefits for “long-term security challenges”.
While acknowledging those risks, many European countries view Huawei as a price-worthy alternative to competing offerings. They also worry about the long-term ramifications of blocking the Chinese company, given Europe’s growing reliance on trade with China.
“I continue to stress to my friends in Europe … that America’s concerns about Beijing’s commercial and military expansion should be their concerns as well,” U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a packed room at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of senior defense and foreign policy decision-makers.
Esper warned that if Europe ignored the American call, it risked undermining the NATO alliance. “If we don’t understand the threat and we don’t do something about it, at the end of the day it could compromise what is the most successful military alliance in history,” he said.
Despite the stark rhetoric, American officials stopped short of renewing threats to curtail intelligence sharing with European allies if they ignored the U.S. call.
But many European officials — especially those eager to attract Chinese investment — don’t agree. They want Europe to court China and pursue closer ties, a suggestion met with alarm in Washington’s foreign policy establishment.
“Europe doesn’t understand the fundamental nature of China and the relationship between Chinese business and the party state,” said Daniel Twining, president of the International Republican Institute, a Washington-based organization that seeks to promote democracy around the world. “They need to enlarge the frame.”
