More than 40 members of the European Parliament have stressed in a joint letter that Chinese communications companies Huawei and ZTE are high-risk suppliers that pose a security threat to Europe’s cybersecurity.
The members of the Parliament, representing five political groups, made the statement in a letter to EU member state communications ministers and senior European Commission officials, Politico reported. More than 40 members of the European Parliament signed the letter, including Andrus Ansip, former vice president of the European Commission, Reinhard Bütikofer, head of the European Parliament’s delegation for China relations, and other prominent members of their parties.
The letter states, “Like all Chinese companies, (Huawei and its relatively small Chinese rival ZTE) are required under Chinese law to implement the directives of China’s undemocratic totalitarian government. This includes using the Internet to control its own people as well as spying on Western governments, companies, and citizens.”
The letter stresses that “there is therefore no doubt that Huawei and ZTE are both ‘high risk’ suppliers whose technology in European 5G networks would pose a security threat” and that “5G networks need to be secured to ensure the health of the technology”. solutions that exclude vendors in the ‘high risk’ category from accessing sensitive parts of the network.”
The letter asks the EU and national public funds to conduct an assessment to ensure that “no European funds, i.e. taxpayer money, will be used to use the technology of ‘high-risk’ communications equipment suppliers.”
In the letter, the parliamentarians also criticize China for failing to open its domestic communications market to European suppliers such as Ericsson and Nokia, and that “there is a clear lack of reciprocity between the EU and China in terms of market access for 5G suppliers.”
The parliamentarians said the EU should agree on a draft International Procurement Instrument (IPI) that would close EU public procurement to companies from countries that restrict market access for European companies.
The parliamentarians also asked member governments to “jointly assess and classify ‘high-risk’ suppliers” and reach consensus on the positioning of Huawei and ZTE.
Recent Comments