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Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMVK) appears to be defending its position that it is not calling for a total ban on Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE.
Spokesman of the BMVK, cit Reutersindicated that Germany would continue to make decisions on “case by case” basis when it comes to evaluation “reliability” of telecommunications equipment suppliers.
Getting tougher on Huawei…
Berlin is back in the spotlight for its handling of Huawei, which remains a strong presence in Telekom Deutschland’s radio access network — and apparently under little pressure from the government or operators to pick up the slack — after Reuters highlighted the content of the BMVK report, “Internal guidelines on China“, labeled “confidentially“.
The 104-page “strategic document”, dated November 24, purportedly outlines ways to tighten security measures in place in the country Law on IT Security 2.0including the banning of components and products made by suppliers in countries deemed “authoritarian”.
If the proposal is adopted by Germany’s coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf, the ban will not only cover telecommunications and IT components, but also other areas of critical national infrastructure such as food supply, healthcare and water transport.
The confidential report warns of the dangers of over-reliance on China for trade, which Robert Habeck, the German vice-chancellor and federal minister of BMVK, has been campaigning on for some time.
“The importance of China as an export market for many German industrial sectors, as well as critical dependencies in some.” [areas], could make Germany vulnerable to blackmail and limit its political capacity to act. “
Internal guidelines on ChinaBMVK.
…but not tough enough, says the US
The BMWK proposal appears to give some leeway to not ban Huawei, despite insisting on a “case-by-case” basis, but it has not been enough to assuage the fears of US officials, who think Germany has not been tough or quick enough to crack down on Chinese suppliers. , which they see as a threat to national security (claims that Huawei and ZTE vehemently deny).
US Congressman and Republican Michael McCall, quoted Reutersclaimed that Germany “jeopardizing one’s own national security and the security of Europe”, by not completely banning Huawei.
“Berlin has not learned from its reliance on Russia for energy, and they are making the same mistake by allowing China access to their telecoms.” “
McCaul.
Underscoring its zero-tolerance policy toward Chinese suppliers, the Biden administration last month banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE because it represented “unacceptable risk” to US national security.
Law on IT Security 2.0: open to interpretation
The Law on IT Security 2.0which was adopted by the German Bundestag in April 2021 when Angela Merkel was still chancellor, gives room for political judgment to call on the supplier’s “reliability“. Merkel, intent on not damaging the lucrative trade relationship with China, has often seemed reluctant to talk about outright bans. Instead, she preferred tightening security measures that apply to suppliers worldwide, not just Chinese ones.
THAT Security Act 2.0 introduces a two-step approval process for telecommunication equipment. The first phase is a technical check of the individual components, followed by a political evaluation of the supplier’s evaluation.reliability‘.
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