Huawei

While there is widespread agreement that Huawei devices in 5G infrastructure pose some risk to the U.S. and allied nations, the policy community—in particular the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre—has paid insufficient attention to the technical aspects. The discussion must examine not simply whether China would use this technology maliciously, but the specific threats that Huawei equipment could pose and the extent to which these threats can be mitigated.

As the competition for 5G continues, one of the largest players, Chinese company Huawei Technologies, is facing concerns from numerous countries that using Huawei equipment exposes their national networks to spying or worse by the Chinese government.

In a letter released Wednesday, six former combatant commanders and intelligence chiefs outlined “grave concerns” about risks posed by Chinese-developed 5G networks, including espionage, constraints on U.S. military operations, and threats to democracy and human rights. The letter is available here and below.

Huawei has filed suit against the United States, alleging that provisions of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act restricting use of Huawei equipment and services by government agencies and contractors constitute an unconstitutional bill of attainder against the company. The lawsuit comes after high-profile indictments of the company and its Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in recent weeks.