Britain's Huawei gamble
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2020
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The UK's decision to give the Chinese telecoms equipment maker partial access to its 5G network risks trade retaliation from the US. But a decision to exclude Huawei altogether might have risked infuriating China.
Ed Butler looks at the actual technical hurdles to making 5G broadband networks secure from foreign snooping with the help of BBC technology reporter Zoe Kleinman, and analyst Emily Taylor of Oxford Information Labs.
Plus Norbert Ruttgen, chairman of the German parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, explains why he believes his own nation should stand strong and not succumb to the threat of foreign trade retaliation when making decisions about national security.
(Picture: A Huawei staff member uses her mobile phone in Shenzhen; Credit: Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello there, I'm Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:06.7 | Coming up, the UK says yes to Chinese 5G technology. |
| 0:12.0 | It is the right decision for the UK specific circumstances. |
| 0:15.9 | The future of our digital economy depends on having that trust in safety and security. |
| 0:21.3 | Not everyone's quite so keen on this decision, though. |
| 0:23.8 | Other nations are asking, can we risk Chinese tech in our systems? |
| 0:28.5 | What I am really afraid of is that we start to take major strategic decisions out of fear. |
| 0:36.8 | We must not decide out of fear. |
| 0:39.4 | 5G tech and who should build it? That's Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:47.4 | Rarely has one decision about one country's digital infrastructure proved such a talking point. |
| 0:54.5 | Mr. Speaker, I hope the whole House will agree that if we are to achieve our digital |
| 0:59.1 | connectivity ambitions, it is absolutely imperative that we can trust in the safety and the security |
| 1:04.3 | of our telecom's networks. |
| 1:07.0 | It's a great mistake to let them in the first place. |
| 1:09.9 | I mean, you know, in 1937, the Germans made very good submarines, |
| 1:13.8 | but we didn't buy them for a very good reason. |
| 1:16.0 | This is a central strategic asset to the United Kingdom. |
| 1:19.7 | When I hear people saying that we're going to turn over the building of our 5G network to Huawei, |
| 1:25.1 | and that's an enormous exaggeration. |
| 1:26.9 | But we're under this enormous lobbying campaign now |
| 1:29.5 | from elements in the US. So what has been decided? Basically, despite objections from lots of people, |
| 1:35.2 | including the White House, Britain has chosen to allow the Chinese firm Huawei to build part |
... |
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