REALITY CHECKhad received $75bn (£58bn) worth of Chinese state
aid in various forms.
In early February, France, Germany, Italy and Poland
asked the EU Commission to push back against what
they deemed to be unfair competition from both US
and Chinese firms. But Europe’s weakness on 5G,
and new technological development more widely,
cannot only be attributed to skewed competition.
It is as much the result of a lack of strategic vision
and industrial policy.
If anything, this controversy emphasises the
importance of political will. Without it, in the UK
just as elsewhere, market forces are likely to take
precedence over considerations of sovereignty or
strategic autonomy.
byARTHUR LAUDRAIN
(@APB Laudrain)
Arthur is a doctoral researcher in cyber security at the University of
Oxford. He studies issues at the intersection of technology and
international security.
COMMENTHuawei’s
research and
development centre
in Shanghai, China