US And Poland Push For More Rigid Checks On Foreign Influence Over 5G Network

As the Trump led administration pressures allies to exclude China from the 5G network upgrade, the United States and Poland combined in a joint declaration to propose for more rigid checks on the network equipment by the suppliers of 5G network.

This decision comes as a result of the existing trade war between the US and China. The US accuses Huawei technologies of having ties with Beijing and a possible military espionage. The Shenzhen-based tech firm has persistently denied these claims and maintained that it operates as a private business entity and has no ties with the Chinese intelligence.

Polish president Andrzej Duda and US Vice President Mike Pence during the press conference in Warsaw, Poland signed a joint declaration seeking a rigorous evaluation of every network equipment. “All countries must ensure only trusted and reliable suppliers participate in networks,” the declaration, signed by US Vice President Michael Pence and Polish Prime Minister in Warsaw said.

Meanwhile, Huawei has a firm balance in Poland, a country which doubles as a close ally of President Trump’s administration, but is now caught in the claws of the US which is desperate to halt every business transaction between the Chinese technology firm and its allies.

The declaration pronounces that every supplier must be subject to control by a foreign government to ascertain if it has a transparent ownership structure and a transparent corporate practice, Reuters reported.

Huawei has been subject to a probe in Poland after the authorities arrested a Chinese employee of Huawei and a former Polish security official on spying allegations in January. “Polish security services have conducted and are conducting activities in this regard and they detected actions which may be qualified as actions of an espionage character,” Polish president Andrzej Duda said during the press conference with Michael Pence.

Huawei denies the allegation of spying on Poland.

Both country leaders, Duda and Pence said they have both spoken about the importance of judicial independence but did not finalise what to do about Poland’s record. The country’s ruling Law and Justice party which Duda belongs to, however, insist that right groups and the European Commission would have agreed to an increased government control over Polish courts.

The US vice president said that Washington was waiting to include Poland in the country’s visa waiver program which would be implemented shortly.