NATO Secretary General’s warning to members about the use of Chinese information and communication technologies

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, the German newspaper “Hamburger Abend Blatt” wrote: NATO in Discussions about China’s communications technology have intervened with a clear warning to Germany. At the first NATO cyber defense conference at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of the alliance, asked his partners in the alliance to abandon Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.

He reminded on Thursday We must avoid relying on the technology of authoritarian regimes to build the digital backbone of our future, he said. German Federal Foreign Minister met in Berlin for discussion, warned: We must not repeat this mistake by relying on China for our critical network technology. It is very unusual, especially with such clear words. But NATO is disheartened by the fact that German mobile phone providers Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica continue to rely on Huawei products to build 5G mobile networks without the intervention of the federal government.

German federal government security experts also They are concerned that a decision on the deployment of Chinese components in Germany’s 5G Internet network has been delayed for weeks.

In mid-September, the German Interior Ministry, after a comprehensive risk analysis, called for consequences. it became According to the ministry’s request, Chinese components must be removed from network operators throughout Germany within three years, so that no more than 25% of 5G Internet network components are from Chinese manufacturers. So far, according to experts’ estimates, this figure is between 50 and 60 percent.

Accordingly, in places especially related to security, such as Berlin or Cologne/Bonn, where a large number of ministries and federal institutions are located, all The Chinese components must be removed within three years.

The German Ministry of the Interior also has extensive security concerns about the use of technologies by Chinese companies and fears, among other things, politically motivated sabotage and data theft. An assessment in which NATO and the European Union participate. Meanwhile, Huawei, ZTE and Chinese operators have always strongly rejected the security risks or the possibility of their products being misused for espionage. We need to be prepared to deal with cyber-attacks – in times of peace, crisis and conflict, he said, about better protecting the cyber infrastructure of NATO members. He added: We have to update our systems, including the systems that our governments use, but also the systems that our industry and citizens rely on. He criticizes Huawei and ZTE parts. Only the Ministry of Transport strongly opposes the proposal of the Ministry of Interior in this regard – and therefore this is the reason for the delay in the decision. The federal minister of transport is afraid that the removal of Chinese technology will be very expensive and he does not consider the risks to be so high. It does not have Chinese technology in its networks. Huawei’s market share is higher in Berlin than in Beijing. According to him, there is even a European alternative with Nokia and Ericsson.

Jens Zimmerman, spokesman for the digital policy of the parliamentary faction of the Social Democratic Party, also welcomed NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg’s clear vote against the use of Chinese information technology. In this regard, he said: The geopolitical security situation is more tense than ever, that is why the protection of critical infrastructure within NATO is necessary.

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