The U.S. warns its allies about Huawei's security issues

The US has urged its allies, including the Philippines, to consider alternatives to Huawei when deploying 5G.

During a recent telephonic roundtable with international journalists attended by the Inquirer, United States Under Secretary of State for economic growth, energy, and the environment Keith Krach noted that after the United Kingdom decided to reconsider using Huawei 5G network, China not only threatened to punish bank HSBC but also pulled out of major infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom.

“I think governments and businesses around the world are asking a similar question regarding 5G systems: Who do you trust to carry out your most private information and intellectual property?” Krach said. For the United States government, “the primary choices are Korean, Samsung; and two European vendors, Ericsson and Nokia.”

Also according to Krach: “US telecom providers are successfully deploying Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung throughout their 5G system. They understand that security issue plays an important role. In contrast, Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE were both “required to abide by China’s national intelligence law by turning over any and all data to China’s government upon request”. He affirmed that these requests have been happened frequently because Huawei is implicated in numerous cases regarding theft of intellectual property, bribery, hacking and other crimes,” he claimed.

Until now in the Philippines, the top two of telco service providers — PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. — have yet to roll out 5G on a massive scale. Globe currently has very limited 5G coverage in Metro Manila, while PLDT has none yet. Both telcos had earlier partnered with Huawei, so it may be hard for PLDT and Globe to abandon the Chinese connection given network compatibility, on top of cheaper cost. The incoming third telco provider Dito Telecommunity Corp., was also backed by Chinese state-owned China Telecom.

In an email to the Inquirer, US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said: “We continue to urge our partners and allies, including the Philippines, to assess carefully the long-term national security and economic impacts of allowing untrusted vendors access to important 5G network infrastructure. Allowing untrusted, high-risk vendors, such as Huawei and ZTE, access to any part of a 5G network renders critical infrastructure vulnerable to disruption, manipulation, and espionage, and puts sensitive government, commercial, and personal information at risk.”

According to Ortagus, in contrast, companies like Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung have a transparent, open business structure, not having to follow anyone's orders to steal data or disconnect important systems. Attractive financial terms make Chinese equipment seem cheaper, but they come with hidden costs, such as cybersecurity and privacy, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.