Asean nations will consider Huawei as 5G supplier despite security questions, official says
- Bloc of Southeast Asian countries have not felt pressure from US to prevent Chinese firm’s involvement, deputy secretary general Aladdin Rillo says
- US has been lobbying nations not to use Huawei’s technology, but Rillo ‘hopes to offer level playing field’
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) sees next-generation 5G as a game-changer for e-commerce, fintech and smart city developments, and could use the Chinese telecoms maker as a supplier even though restrictions have been placed on the company by the United States, Asean’s deputy secretary general Aladdin Rillo told the South China Morning Post.
“Huawei, like others, is a key player and would definitely help us in this regard, and we want to take advantage of that,” Rillo said in an interview at the Huawei Cybersecurity Transparency Centre in Brussels last week.
“Whether [the claim of Huawei posing a security threat] has a basis or not, we don’t know, but we hope to make sure to give a level playing field to all.”
Rillo’s European tour included a visit to Huawei’s centre, which opened a year ago at the heart of the European Union as it tries to win over government leaders to use its service and fight back against US allegations that its equipment poses a national security risk.
The 10 countries in the Asean group, which have varying degrees of wealth and development, have differing national plans on when to introduce 5G networks and which suppliers to engage with.
This year, Singapore plans to have 5G up and running, while Malaysia is set to allocate radio frequency bands for 5G service providers.
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Mobile carriers in Vietnam and Cambodia are working with equipment providers on the necessary infrastructure, which is expected to offer internet speeds up to 50 times faster than current 4G systems.
Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines will lag behind other Asean partners, according to a report by A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm, last year.
The US last year placed Huawei on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns, which allowed the US government to restrict sales of US-made parts to the Chinese company.
Washington had planned to strengthen ties with the Asean bloc at a summit in Las Vegas this month, with topics on the agenda set to include cybersecurity. But the planned meeting has been called off, according to diplomatic sources, citing the coronavirus outbreak.
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The US had not put any pressure on Asean not to use Huawei’s technology, Rillo said, in contrast to Washington’s intense lobbying all over Europe, and despite Southeast Asia playing a critical role in Trump’s Indo-Pacific geopolitical strategy, countering China.
Asked what he would tell Washington if pressure were to be applied, Rillo said: “Let’s be realistic. This is a world where everybody should have the opportunity to be given the chance to contribute, right? The way I look at the world, it’s a very interconnected world, right? The fact that it’s very interdependent, very integrated, we need to help each other, right?”
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Compared with European rivals Ericsson and Nokia, Rillo suggested that China’s proximity to Southeast Asia would justify future partnerships with Chinese companies.
He said that the strong relationship between Asean and China provided opportunities for Chinese companies to expand in Asean nations. China is the bloc’s largest trading partner and third largest source of foreign direct investment.
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