China and 5G, what do Italy do? An awareness call from Canada

The banning of Chinese Huawei and Zte from the 5G network ordered by Canada sounds like a warning bell to Italy. The document comes three years after Kobasir officially demanded that Beijing shut down companies for national security reasons. But the spotlight is in Washington

What time is the night of Italian cyber security? Alarm bells ring from Canada: Government on Thursday Justin Trudeau Western 007s have been banned from the national 5G network of Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and Zte for allegedly spying. The move was long overdue and came late on schedule. For years, the United States has been asking its allies to exclude Chinese companies from the fifth-generation network. Fair competition, Beijing accuses, lashes out again against a decision “without any basis” after the Canadian embargo and is determined to retaliate. A question of national security is coming back from Washington, the two-party political front that entered the administration Barack ObamaRaised his voice with Donald Trump Asked regularly to the White House and on days Joe Biden.

Like the UK, New Zealand and Australia, Canada was one of the first Western countries to embrace it. The four together form the intelligence-sharing alliance “Five Eyes” with the United States, which will inevitably march in solidarity on telecommunications security.

The delay in Trudeau’s overthrow of Chinese technology companies is quickly explained: Tomocles’ sword of technological sanctions has been used by Ottawa as a weapon of negotiation with Ottawa. Meng Wancho. Vice President of Huawei, Founder of the People’s Liberation Army and daughter of a former officer Ren ZhengfeiHe was arrested in Vancouver in December 2019 on suspicion of violating secondary sanctions on Iran.

In retaliation, the Chinese government imprisoned two Canadians. Michael Gowrick And Michael Spover, Promised to throw away the keys. Now the stalemate is over – Canada released Meng without handing her over to the United States, where she was wanted, and in return she returned home with two captured Canadians – reopening with a view to intensifying the technical Cold War. Small relations with China.

Only one country in Europe has responded with a thumbs up to the US ally’s demands. United Kingdom Boris Johnson In fact Huawei has decided to exclude Zte from the 5G network – for some experts it has been a long, long time – and for some time was in charge of telecommunications in the United States, as did the state-owned Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The same cannot be said in other parts of Europe, where the Huawei affair is its own series, even if it is obscured by the Russian war in Ukraine. Most of the allies on this side of the Atlantic have become deaf. European regulation has given a hand, and the “toolbox for 5G” released in January 2020 has taken an average position: diversifying suppliers is a good thing (as far as Russian gas is concerned with 5G) but Chinese companies are pushing the door. Not talking about it.

The Italian position applies to this framework, but it deserves a separate note. Yes, because almost three years ago a completely political and vague indication of the presence of Chinese companies in the 5G network came from Rome. In a report on telecommunications security after a lengthy investigation with the leaders of the Italian 007s, Intercom called on the parliamentary intelligence control group, Kobazir, to officially request in December 2019 that Beijing be officially excluded from Italian infrastructure.

A sign of a unanimous vote by a two-party committee – then led by the Northern League Raphael WolfBy the Senator of Fdi today Adolfo UrsoBut the investigation was initiated by former President Dem Lorenzo Curini – So the shortcut is stronger than the consensus. Three years later the facts speak for themselves: that sign has not been followed.

Cyber ​​security has come a long way. The Cyber ​​Security Agency was started by the Draghi government with the entry of the “cyber perimeter”, the network of technical security controls of companies and the PA required for the state, and then the commission entrusted to the intelligence service. Franco Gabrielle And led Roberto Baldoni. An inescapable shield with other precautions – above all, expanding dramatically during disasters and extending gold power to the 5G network – allows you to monitor telecommunications security in Italy more than ever before and prevent third-party interceptions.

The political knot, however, is still complicated. The document from parts of Via Veneto and from Washington DC is destined to come to the surface again, with scrutiny that still attracts attention today.