We’ve heard for years that we should be wary of Huawei. It’s not just us who buy gadgets, but our governments too. In 2019, when Klaus Iohannis met with Donald Trump at the White House, Romania became the first European Union country to sign a memorandum with the United States in which it effectively committed itself not to do business with Huawei regarding 5G infrastructure. Despite this, the Americans were undaunted and continued to aggressively lobby in Bucharest against the Chinese.

Romania was followed by about ten European countries that decided to sign such memorandums with the Trump administration. After the changing of the guard in Washington, European allies were waiting to see if Joe Biden would change course on Huawei. This did not happen, so in June 2021, Romania accelerated the law on the transposition of the “memorandum against Huawei”.

This means that it is only a matter of time before Chinese manufacturers are excluded from Romania’s 5G plans (and in the coming years from much of Romania’s already existing telecommunications infrastructure) on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security.

From the very beginning, it should be clarified that this conflict, originally US-Chinese, is related to critical infrastructure, not commercial interests. The Americans and their allies do not want the Chinese giants to enter the critical 5G infrastructure, fearing that they will be spied on by Beijing.

Read more at Panorama.ro.