Under Jacinda Ardern’s prime ministership, New Zealand is being steadily estranged from its traditional allies as it cosies closer and closer to a genocidal dictatorship. From Ardern’s incessant public attacks on New Zealand’s closest neighbour and ally to her edging nearer to formally signing on to Xi Xinping’s notorious Belt and Road Initiative, the Labour government seem determined to cut the Pacific nation adrift from its longstanding alliances.
This is nothing new for Labour, of course. It was David Lange who first edged New Zealand out of the ANZUS alliance by effectively banning US warships from NZ ports. But at least New Zealand managed to remain part of the vital Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network.
How long that will be the case is increasingly under a cloud of doubt.
A key issue facing the Five Eyes partners is Chinese telco Huawei and next-generation wireless technology, 5G. Due to spying concerns, Australia and the US have banned Huawei from their 5G networks. After years of fence-sitting, Canada seems certain to follow suit.
That left just New Zealand and the UK allowing Huawei to participate in their 5G networks.
But the UK has changed its mind, too.
It appears the UK wants Chinese telecommunications company Huawei as far away from its 5G network as possible. In an about-face, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told officials to create plans to reduce Huawei’s involvement in the country’s 5G networks to zero by 2023.
This is a significant development. The mischief-making potential of allowing a Chinese telco anywhere near sensitive communications technology – especially tech like 5G that forks neatly into the ever-expanding “internet of things” – is a massive threat. Especially given China’s demonstrated proclivity for cyber-warfare and intellectual property theft.
The U.S. has claimed that Huawei includes back doors in its equipment that allow the company to spy on users of mobile phone networks that use it. This would effectively give Huawei the same access to any data transmitted over the network, including phone calls and text messages, as law enforcement, which must provide warrants to gain access. Huawei has repeatedly denied these accusations.
It appears that Britain’s initial foolishness in opening the 5G door to Huawei has rapidly sobered in light of the brutal reality of the Wuhan plague.
According to the Telegraph, the new plans come in light of growing opposition against Chinese investment from members of Johnson’s own party and a lack of transparency over Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of the conservatives opposed to the presence of Huawei in the 5G networks, told the Guardian that he welcomed Johnson’s change of heart.
“This is very good news and I hope and believe it will be the start of a complete and thorough review of our dangerous dependency on China,” Smith said.
Per the Guardian, Smith isn’t alone in his views. Senior ministers also want to reduce the UK’s economic dependence on China for essential goods. They are currently working on an initiative called “Project Defend,” which aims to boost British self-sufficiency in medicine and technology.
Gizmodo
This is a conversation that many Western nations, and their Eastern allies, are having in the wake of COVID and China’s blatant lies and exploitation of the pandemic. There is a groundswell of opposition to dealing with China in Australia. Japan is moving to decouple its economy from China. India is joining Australia, the US and Japan in the informal “quad” alliance. Other Asian nations are expressing interest.
All except New Zealand.
China’s alarm at being thwarted on the 5G front can be gauged by the increasing shrillness of its “wolf diplomacy”, such as ranting that Five Eyes is an “axis of white supremacy”.
Still, it appears that Xi can continue to rely on his friends in Wellington.
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