Does this mean that there is a high risk of entrusting the telecommunications network, which is core infrastructure, to a company in an unreliable country? It can be said that a painful policy shift that puts more emphasis on security than on the economy was implemented.
The British government has announced that China's Huawei Technologies Co. will be removed from the country's development of 5G, the next-generation communications standard. Starting next year, purchasing 5G-related Huawei products will be banned, and equipment already introduced will be removed and replaced by 2027.
In the British policy presented in January, Huawei was allowed to enter the market of the country in a limited way, but now, the U.K. government has decided to eliminate the company due to doubts about product safety.
U.S. sanctions could prevent Huawei from procuring semiconductors based on U.S. technology and reduce the reliability of its products. The United States has warned of the risk of information being leaked to China and cyber-attacks through Huawei products.
For Britain, switching to other companies' products will increase the time and cost required to build a 5G network. Nevertheless, maybe the country has come in step with the United States because it is more distrustful of China than ever.
In dealing with the spread of the novel coronavirus, China made a mistake in its initial response and its disclosure of information was not sufficient. In Britain, it is said that concerns over dependence on China for medical supplies have grown.
In addition, the gap between them has widened decisively over the Hong Kong situation.
China has introduced a national security law to crack down on anti-government movements in Hong Kong. The British government categorically states that the enforcement of the law violates the high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong stipulated in the 1984 China-U.K. joint declaration, and is a clear and serious violation of the declaration.
The declaration is an international agreement negotiated and compiled by the two countries. It is significant that the administration of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which has attached great importance to economic relations with China, clearly indicated Beijing broke its promise, being prepared for friction with the country.
The British government also decided to allow Hong Kong residents who have lived there since before the return of the region to China in 1997 to move to Britain. It can be said that this move indicates Britain's intention to fulfill its responsibility as the former colonial power. It is unreasonable for China not to recognize the declaration as valid and to reject Britain's assertion, saying it is interfering in domestic affairs.
In 2015, Britain became the first of the Group of Seven nations to decide to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and had been promoting economic cooperation with China, including on nuclear power projects. The honeymoon relationship, which had been called a golden age, is coming to an end.
China must face up to the fact that its strategy to win Britain over to its side with the economy as an axis was tripped up by its diplomacy, which can be said to be self-righteous.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on July 16, 2020.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
