Category Archives: 5G

Liu Xiaoming to quit his role of Chinese ambassador to Britain

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Critic of UK decision to ban Huawei from 5G networks to be replaced by China’s vice-foreign minister

China’s long-serving envoy to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, a staunch defender of closer UK-China economic ties and the imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong, is standing down, marking the end of an era in relations between the two countries that hit a high in 2015 but has since worsened markedly.

He is being replaced by his country’s vice-foreign minister, Zheng Zeguang, a former Cardiff University law student once tipped to become China’s ambassador to the US, and still seen as a candidate for that post in a couple of years’ time.

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Pressure from Trump led to 5G ban, Britain tells Huawei

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‘Geopolitical’ factors were behind the move, the company was told, with hints that the decision could be reversed in future

The British government privately told the Chinese technology giant Huawei that it was being banned from Britain’s 5G telecoms network partly for “geopolitical” reasons following huge pressure from President Donald Trump, the Observer has learned.

In the days leading up to the controversial announcement on Tuesday last week, intensive discussions were held and confidential communications exchanged between the government and Whitehall officials on one side and Huawei executives on the other.

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Huawei to be stripped of role in UK’s 5G network by 2027, Dowden confirms

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U-turn puts Boris Johnson on collision course with Tory rebels on timing of ban

Huawei is to be stripped out of Britain’s 5G phone networks by 2027, a date that puts Boris Johnson on collision course with a group of Conservative rebels who want the Chinese company eliminated quicker and more comprehensively.

Oliver Dowden, the UK culture secretary, also announced that no new Huawei 5G kit can be bought after 31 December this year – but disappointed the rebels by saying that older 2G, 3G and 4G kit can remain until it is no longer needed.

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Huawei believes it can supply 5G kit to UK despite US sanctions

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Chinese telecom firm stockpiles 500,000 pieces of equipment but fears wider ban

Huawei believes it can supply 5G hardware unaffected by White House sanctions to the UK for the next five years, sidestepping the expected conclusion of an emergency review on Tuesday next week.

The company has stockpiled 500,000 pieces of kit but fears a wider ban on its equipment will be unveiled to placate Conservative rebel MPs, who say the Chinese supplier represents a national security risk.

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Covid-19 misinformation: pro-Trump and QAnon Twitter bots found to be worst offenders

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Researchers find coordinated effort to promote conspiracy theory that coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered by China

Misinformation about the origins of Covid-19 is far more likely to be spread by pro-Trump, QAnon or Republican bots on Twitter than any other source, according to a study commissioned by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology.

In late March, when the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold in the US and across much of the rest of the world, two researchers at Queensland University of Technology, Timothy Graham and Axel Bruns, analysed 2.6m tweets related to coronavirus, and 25.5m retweets of those tweets, over the course of 10 days.

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Why the 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory is false – video explainer

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Conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to coronavirus have resulted in dozens of phone masts across the UK being vandalised in recent weeks. Theories about the dangers of 5G had already been circulating, despite regulators confirming that the radiation levels of the new technology are well within safe boundaries. So how did the conspiracy incorrectly linking it to 5G start? And is 5G really dangerous? We explain why 5G has nothing to do with Covid-19

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Influencers among ‘key distributors’ of coronavirus misinformation

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Study suggests mainstream news outlets struggling to compete with celebrities’ and politicians’ reach

Celebrities and politicians with large social media followings are proving to be key distributors of disinformation relating to coronavirus, according to a study that suggests the factcheckers and mainstream news outlets are struggling to compete with the reach of influencers.

The actor Woody Harrelson and the singer MIA have faced criticism after sharing baseless claims about the supposed connection of 5G to the pandemic, while comments by the likes of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, playing down the scale of the crisis in the face of scientific evidence have attracted criticism in recent days.

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YouTube to suppress content spreading coronavirus 5G conspiracy theory

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Site will reduce recommendations of videos promoting misinformation

YouTube will reduce the amount of content spreading conspiracy theories about links between 5G technology and the coronavirus that it recommends to users and actively remove videos that breach its policies, the company has said.

Content that is simply conspiratorial about 5G mobile communications networks, without mentioning coronavirus, is still allowed on the site. YouTube said those videos may be considered “borderline content” and subjected to suppression, including loss of advertising revenue and being removed from search results on the platform.

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5G confirmed safe by radiation watchdog

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No scientific evidence that technology poses threat to human health, say experts

5G is safe, according to the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation, which has updated its advisory guidelines for the first time in more than 20 years.

The International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the Germany-based scientific body that assesses the health risks of radio broadcasts, called for new guidelines for millimetre-wave 5G, the most high-frequency version of the telecommunications standard.

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US ‘very concerned’ over Huawei’s role in UK 5G network

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Trump’s chief of staff gives clear warning about using Chinese firm to supply equipment

Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff has warned there could be “a direct and dramatic impact” on the sharing of intelligence between the US and UK if Boris Johnson’s government goes ahead with allowing Huawei to supply equipment to build the British 5G mobile phone network.

Mick Mulvaney’s remarks represent one of the most forceful warnings yet by senior Trump administration officials, who have repeatedly made clear their concerns about the British decision to allow the Chinese company to supply its technology.

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Vodafone to remove Huawei from core European networks

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Move will cost €200m over five years but have limited financial impact on UK operations

Vodafone is to remove Huawei equipment from the sensitive, core parts of its mobile networks across Europe at a cost of €200m (£169m) over the next five years.

The group, which has 111 million customers across Europe, has taken the decision after the UK government’s move last week to limit the use of Huawei equipment in the country’s 5G network.

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Trump speaks to Boris Johnson about security as UK nears Huawei decision

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US discusses concerns over Chinese telecoms giant’s role in Britain’s future 5G network

Donald Trump discussed the security of telecommunications networks with Boris Johnson, the White House said, as Britain closes in on a decision on Huawei’s role in the country’s future 5G network.

The US administration told allies not to allow the Chinese tech giant to form part of their 5G networks, claiming it would be a security risk – something Huawei vehemently denies.

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Mike Pompeo: a bully boy calls at No 10

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The visit of the hawkish US secretary of state poses problems for Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt

American secretaries of state can be earnestly dull, like John Kerry, or plain brilliant, like George Marshall; they can be Machiavellian, like Henry Kissinger, or intensely political, like Hillary Clinton. Mike Pompeo, the bluntly spoken, present-day incumbent who will discuss “shared global priorities” with Theresa May in London, is simply a problem.

As last week’s failed US pressure tactics in Venezuela showed, the former army officer, Christian evangelical and ex-CIA director favours a muscular approach to diplomacy. His messianic drive to force regime change in Iran is another example. He recently suggested Donald Trump had been sent by God to save Israel from Tehran’s mullahs.

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5G signal could jam satellites that help with weather forecasting

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New mobile system to be launched this year ‘will put lives at risk’

The introduction of 5G mobile phone networks could seriously affect weather forecasters’ ability to predict major storms.

That is the stark warning of meteorologists around the world, who say the next-generation wireless system now being rolled out across the globe is likely to disrupt the delicate satellite instruments they use to monitor changes in the atmosphere.

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US to put pressure on UK government after leaked Huawei decision

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Britain faces lobbying after Chinese firm wins approval to supply 5G network

Donald Trump’s administration is expected to put further pressure on the UK to reconsider the decision to allow Chinese telecoms company Huawei to help build parts of the UK’s 5G telecoms network.

The US has arranged for a representative from the state department, which has repeatedly warned of the risks of using Huawei, to give a briefing on Monday.

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