Earlier this month, Huawei faced a series of indictments from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), in which the telecommunications company was accused of racketeering, stealing secrets of state and aid to rogue countries – including Iran and North Korea – in their domestic espionage. efforts.
This has led the United States to crack down even more on Huawei, threatening to end information and intelligence sharing with countries that allow the company access to its telecommunications systems. Speaking to reporters in Germany, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the use of telecommunications could disrupt information sharing between countries.
“The concern remains that if countries choose to go the Huawei route, it could well put at risk all of the information and intelligence sharing that we’ve been talking about,” Esper said.
“And that would damage the alliance, or at least our relationship, with that country.” »
The United States’ refusal to allow Huawei to get involved in Western telecommunications means the world could soon see a “splinternet” – a paradigm in which cyberspace is controlled and regulated by different entities.
“There has been growing fear that the global Internet will break down into three or more distinct ecosystems,” John Chipman, director general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the WEF in January.
“Maintaining a single internet would see all countries, including China, have a vested interest in the continuation of the global economy it supports. A bifurcation of the Internet – sometimes called a “splinternet” – could give rise to two competing models.
This could result in the creation of separate supply chains and separate information and communications technologies, built to different standards, each seeking to win markets with each other. The developing world – which prioritizes domestic security – might also find the developing world favorable to the Chinese model.
“Clearly, banning Chinese technology in the United States and allied networks increases the risk of a splinternet,” Mr. Chipman said.
And with a federal judge’s dismissal of Huawei’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. decision to ban the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment, it appears the tech war is only intensifying.
