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Arrest of Huawei’s Executive - US-China Tech Trade War – II

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December 11, 2018

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What is the global response?

  • The recent arrest in Canada of the chief financial officer of Huawei has created a fresh flashpoint between the United States and China.
  • It reveals that fresh attention is being paid to the mechanisms of, as well as the implications of, Chinese technological leadership.
  • Many of the five eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and US) have imposed restrictions on Huawei and its compatriots in the same industry, such as ZTE.
  • The Government of Japan has also moved to prevent these companies from dominating the fifth-generation telecom rollout domestically.

What are the lessons for India?

  • India is a leading player in the consumption and use of new technology.
  • The commercial rollout of 5G is expected to take place in India in 2020.
  • The Indian government has invited Huawei to be a part of 5G trials in the country.
  • Early this year, Huawei also conducted 5G trials in laboratory with Bharti Airtel in India.
  • However, it is important for the government to ensure that there is transparency about national security as well as the commercial interests at stake in this and similar cases.
  • The dangers of permitting state-linked companies such as Huawei to become the primary guarantors of the effectiveness of India’s telecom backbone are real, and should be avoided.
  • Also, India’s protections against breaches in the high-tech, telecom and cyber domain need urgent review.
  • It is far from clear that there is sufficient capacity or awareness about the degree to which Indian systems can be or have already been penetrated.
  • Stress testing is used to test the stability & reliability of the system.
  • This test mainly determines the system on its robustness and error handling under extremely heavy load conditions.
  • It is not clear whether stress tests have been run or simulated to determine the stability of India’s technological framework in the event of various geopolitical crises.

What should be done?

  • Technological infrastructure is crucial in the 21st century and should be an important part of security preparedness and theorising.
  • Thus, the government could consider coming out with a white paper establishing its strategy in this respect, similar to the one on data protection.

 

Source: Business Standard

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