Decenter Journal – Read away from the center! Resist indoctrination!
Huawei has to go. It is detrimental to national security in the United States. This is what the US has been telling us. The US goes full force to prevent other countries from using Huawei’s 5G technology. Recently, some clues finally revealed themselves on the reason why Huawei has to go and why the United States is desperately trying to get rid of it. It is not about competition for the 5G contract, as the United States has no company at the moment to offer 5G to compete with Huawei. Let’s see what seems to be the truth.
“The Internet is fundamentally American…so much of the infrastructure of the Internet is under US control that over 90 percent of the world’s Internet traffic passes through technologies developed, owned, terrible operated by the American government and American businesses, most of which are physically located on American territory…classified American policies that pervert law and permit US government to surveil virtually every man, woman, and child who has ever touched a computer or picked up a phone” in the words of Edward Snowden from his book Permanent Record (163).
There were many whistleblowers provided information on the United States’ illegal public surveillance on its citizens as well as the world, including Angela Merkel’s phone being tapped, way before Edward Snowden. Even though most of them had a bad ending, either successfully portrayed by the pro-government media as crazy, outcast, or weirdo, or prosecuted and imprisoned for a long time, it also raised public awareness of personal privacy and internet security. For this awareness, consumers for technological devices demand some protection. Encryption technology was then developed to cater to this need. Apple adopted secure default encryption for its iPhones5G and iPads, and Google followed suit for its Android products and Chromebooks. Moreover, according to Snowden, “the year 2016 was a landmark in tech history, the first year since the invention of the Internet that more Web traffic from using than unencrypted” (328). The use of technological devices and the internet were once again felt safe by governments of the world or civilians alike.
A few days ago a story broke. It reveals that Crypto AG, a Swiss company specializing in communications and information security, especially encryption equipment used widely all over the world, is actually owned by the American Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA. The company was secretly jointly owned by the CIA and West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1970 until about 1993, with the CIA continuing as sole owner until about 2018. With headquarters in Steinhausen, the company was a long-established manufacturer of encryption machines and a wide variety of cipher devices. According to the news, the encryption technology offered by Crypto AG is using by over 120 countries in the world. So in a sense, the United States, at the moment has absolutely the upper hand on private information, regardless of personal or national information, going around the world. The use of 5G technology manufactured by Huawei will definitely alter the technological infrastructure that prevents continual surveillance by the United States all over the world. If we look at many countries’ reactions to the US’s pressure on rejecting Huawei, we can see that they all somehow reflected their tendency to ignore the US’s advice. They all know that by adopting 5G with Huawei’s equipment is the way to get rid of the US’s surveillance. Germany has already openly expressed their acceptance to Huawei on its 5G project. We have to understand Germany used to co-owned Crypto AG with the CIA. They clearly understand what kind of equipment posts national security to their country. The truth is finally revealed now. Huawei has to go as it will post risk not to national security to the United States but it will destroy the unfair dominance of the world by the United States through its decades-long dirty surveillance of everyone on the planet.
Snowden, Edward. Permanent Record. Metropolitan Books, 2019
Sanchez, Rick. “NSA Whistleblower dishes dirt on CIA scam of the century.” RT, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L1V-yP3Nu8, 19 FEB., 2020.