As a part of the battle between USA and China over the introduction of 5G networks, China’s Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiang launched a press conference on October 25, where he accused the United States of creating spying platforms and suppressing the Chinese partners wishing to introduce the 5G technology.

The Chinese attack comes after an announcement made October 23 by Keith Krach, the US State Department’s undersecretary of state for financial development, vitality and the environment.

In the statement issued in a press conference held at the US Embassy in Cairo, he warned in opposition to utilising Chinese firms to launch 5G networks.

“They (Chinese companies) offer cheap to negligible prices, but in the long run, the cost will be exorbitant because it is a matter of data protection,” Krach stated.

Krach additionally called Egyptian firms to boycott Chinese firms, saying these companies are tools utilised by the Chinese authorities to steal and make use of buyer data for the benefit of Chinese safety companies. He invited Egypt to join a “clean network” that protects their data instead.

According to Krach, the clean network is a coalition of countries committed to securing their data from “malign actors” such because of the Chinese Communist Party. He declared that the clean network coalition includes more than 40 countries around the globe and about 60 companies from communications and technology giants, to acquire the 5G technology securely.

Liqiang, however, replied at the October 25 press conference held in Cairo, “What the US side is calling for under the name of a ‘clean network’ can safely be called ‘a dirty network,’ ‘an eavesdropping network,’ ‘a monopoly network’ and ‘an ideological network.’”

“To prevent Chinese companies from achieving a top feature in the field of 5G, US politicians have resorted to every means possible to suppress such companies. Chinese-Egyptian cooperation is a matter restricted to China, and Egypt and does not require any US interference.”

Recently, China has been looking for rapprochement with the Egyptian government.

On September, Michael Lee, senior IT client services engineer at the Chinese Huawei company, met with Egypt’s Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker. They mentioned methods to shift to the smart electricity grid system gradually. He expressed the company’s dedication to modernising the electrical energy sector in Egypt.
It’s worth noting that Huawei has a robust presence in Egypt, and the company has a network service centre in North Africa based in Cairo.

On July 8, Liqiang stated that Chinese support to Egypt exceeded 100 million Egyptian pounds ($6.3 million) and stressed that the Chinese authorities would offer one other batch for to assist women and children in Egypt combat the coronavirus.

On May 19, 2019, to restrict the growth of Chinese technology into the world, the Donald Trump administration announced the inclusion of Huawei and 70 of its subsidiaries on the “Entity List,” which is a blacklist that stops the Chinese entity from buying elements or elements from US firms without acquiring approval from the US authorities.

According to statements by the Chinese ambassador to Cairo on Oct. 26, the amount of Chinese direct funding with Egypt rose by 34.6% in comparison with last year, reaching $71.68 million.

China is implementing the towers and skyscrapers venture within the New Administrative Capital, which includes 20 towers, together with the highest tower in Africa, with a height of about 400 meters. The project area stretches over 1.71 million sq. meters, with investments estimated at $3 billion.

In an attempt to lure the Egyptian authorities into cooperating with US firms, Krach called on Egypt to use the funding from the US International Development Finance Corporation to transform its community to 5G.

Trump confirmed his assist for Egypt within the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam disaster, as he stated October 24 throughout a telephone call with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok that Egypt would possibly blow up the dam due to the intransigence of the Ethiopian facet.

The US support to Egypt reached $2.1 billion, divided into $815 million in financial aid and $1.3 billion in navy support.

So who will win the 5G war? our bet is on the US, but who knows? Only time would tell!

Source:Al-Monitor