Huawei’s 5G Technology Project Banned In Australia

Huawei and ZTE are two Chinese companies that are under scrutiny by some governments, at least the United States government and most recently, the Austrailian government has shown that publicly. Recall that the United States government does not trust these companies and have discouraged its citizenry from patronizing them.  Now, the Austrailian government suddenly banned Huawei from supplying equipment for the development of its 5G mobile network. The country’s reasons are similar to that of the US – risks of foreign interference and hacking. Austrailian security agencies recommended this ban and it stated that firms “who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government” would leave Austrailia’s network vulnerable.

No one expects the Chinese government to be happy about this decision and it is not. China believes that this ban will affect Chinese firms and Australians negatively. China’s foreign ministry spokesman said

We urge the Australian government to abandon ideological prejudices and provide a fair competitive environment for Chinese companies’ operations in Australia.

In a tweet, Huawei Australia said that it has been operating in Austrailia for almost 15 years and this ban will affect Huawei users negatively.

It has not been publicly verified that Huawei/ZTE are compromised in any way but the government enforcing these bans definitely knows something that we don’t know. Now, Austrailia will spend more money to develop its 5G network but it will have more internal control and probably more security.