Let’s Not Keep Hiding The Fact That The Chinese Govt’s Aims Are Completely At Odds With Britain’s, Entirely-Reasonable, National Security
WILL THE barring of Chinese tech firm Huawei from the UK telecommunications industry make our networks more secure ? Not completely, but it’s a giant leap in the right direction. Perhaps for the first time in decades, we have a government of realists when it comes to understanding the long-term aims of central government inside the People’s Republic of China. And, yes, let’s not keep hiding the fact that the Chinese government’s aims are completely at odds with Britain’s own, entirely-reasonable, national security interests. Via her People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Unit 61398, based out of Shanghai, China has practiced “denial” and “deception” when conducting thousands of cyber attacks around the world, according to the PLA’s own writings and recent US defence intelligence reports. One branch, dubbed by spooks as the “Comment Crew” targeted high-tech defence companies, including US manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, to steal fighter-jet designs. Another operation called ‘Shady RAT’, has seen Remote Access Trojan malware downloaded into servers at international organisations, including the Olympics Committee and United Nations.
Need further proof? Digital forensics investigators point to the malware controllers working to Shanghai timelines. The list of offensive cyber operations emanating from China’s electronic warfare heartland is almost endless. When taken together, the digital footprints (forensics) and circumstantial evidence, appear compelling. To most security analysts including myself, there’s a reluctant conclusion of ‘guilty beyond all reasonable doubt’.
Why does China do this? And what is Huawei’s involvement?
The first answer is simple. Not so long ago, China was a superpower. Nowadays, her communist politburo is a hyper-strategic playing historical catchup.
During late 2017, its talented leader, Xi Jinping, outlined a strategy at the 19th Party Congress to make China the world’s leading superpower by 2050. A centenary anniversary gift to honour Marxist Chairman Mao’s late 1940s revolution.
More than thirty times during his epic three-hour speech Xi heralded a “new era” of “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. In addressing Huawei specifically, the UK has tormented herself for far too long, and avoided cold, hard, diplomatic reality.
But the facts are clear as daylight.
Inside any single party state, particularly an authoritarian Marxist one, the economic system is micromanaged by the central Politburo. No private corporation can plausibly claim to be ‘independent’, and political leaders, or proxies, sit as chairpersons and directors upon all corporation boards
Further self-confessed political evidence weighs in against Huawei. Just like any other local firm, Huawei is fully integrated into the Chinese state, because, as leader Xi Jinping states, “the state leads everything”: political, economic, social, military and academia.
How will China achieve her long-term political goals?
In order to achieve supremacy by 2050 and beyond, Xi aims to create a global tributary system. This thinly-disguised repetition of China’s colonial history means that nations and international corporations are influenced to become commercially dependent upon Beijing. Xi imagines in the longer-term, client companies and states will come to acknowledge China’s predominant role, whilst at the same time, implicitly concede America and NATO’s decline and relegation. Chinese government strategic goals are therefore aggressively internationalist. By the logic of their strategy, they can’t be anything else!
Out of the Five Eyes allied intelligence-sharing alliance, the USA, Canada and Australia, keep Huawei well away from telecommunication networks. Either by direct embargoes or stealth-like regulation. By designating Huawei a “high-risk vendor”, and cracking down on operators using such dubious suppliers, this government has unequivocally done the right thing.
This news was originally published at Express