Abigail Darwish | 2 August 2024

Summary

• Germany to be the latest EU country to effectively ban China’s Huawei, and also ZTE from its 5G wireless networks.

• The Interior Minister announced a five-year plan to phase out the use of 5G equipment, use of which has been advised against by EU officials.

• Underpinning this policy change has produced  national security concerns over public security and a risk of Chinese espionage.

Germany is now set to be the latest EU country to ban the use of critical components (both hardware and software) made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. This week the German government and mobile phone carriers have agreed upon a five-year plan to phase out the use of Chinese-made 5G equipment. According to the preliminary agreement, by the end of 2026 mobile network operators in Germany, including Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica, must remove all critical components from Huawei and ZTE. The second phase will see all critical management systems in both 5G access and transport networks replaced, including the elimination of physical parts of the 5G network for parts for transmission lines, antennas, and towers by 2029. 

Germany’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, announced that this policy move has been made in light of the “dangers of sabotage and espionage”, highlighting  the importance of “secure and resilient telecommunications infrastructure” against external threats. In tandem with German concerns about ‘critical vulnerabilities’, namely Chinese interference, the move away from Huawei and ZTE can also be read as part of a broader Western effort to avoid dependency on Chinese-manufactured goods. 

It is perhaps surprising, however, that only now Germany has announced a redirection in policy. Despite concerns over Huawei in particular, which have been underway in the EU since 2019, and the fact EU officials have since chastised it as a “high-risk vendor”, Germany avoided making any decisive policy over banning Huawei. It is suspected Germany’s policy reversal derives  from a German review of its telecom operators in March of last year, which highlighted the prevalence of Huawei equipment, prompting a governmental investigation into security implications for German cybersecurity. 

Forecast

• Short-term

  • Since Germany has announced considerable limits of Chinese tech this month, as well as some restrictions on trade, it is quite likely that we will see other spheres of German-Chinese relations strained out of concerns of national security. Moreover, considering Germany’s increased concerns over its cybersecurity, we may see other restrictions on China placed in the realm of tech.

• Long-Term

  • Due to ever-growing distrust between the West and China, alongside  mounting concerns of Western dependency on Chinese produced goods, it is very likely that this trajectory of not only German, but Western distancing from Chinese tech will continue. It is also quite likely Western concerns over its cybersecurity and perceived threats of espionage from China will continue to be exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. Likewise, if Taiwan continues to be a point of contention between the West and China, distrust between the two parties will likely continue, prompting a further severing of ties, as seen recently with Germany and China. Finally, Germany itself has increased trade relations with Taiwan in the last year, which will likely  have subsequent  repercussions for German-Chinese relations.