Free and open nations have woken up to the threat posed by Chinese government and linked-firms’ involvement in their 5G telecommunications and to the importance of maintaining the lead in semiconductors. There is less awareness of the risks incurred by using Chinese cellular IoT technology. In the longer term the risk posed by the pervasive presence of Chinese cellular IoT modules in our systems and processes poses a greater threat than does relying upon Chinese companies for 5G.
The risk is that, if Chinese companies continue to increase global market share and to edge out foreign companies, free and open countries will become dependent upon firms linked to the Chinese government and military for cellular IoT modules. Given the immense importance of these modules to modern industry and life, this would make other countries highly vulnerable to a threat to withhold supplies. Dependency is dangerous when it is in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, a potential, if not actual, hostile power.
We hope that you can join us for an in-person discussion on the morning of January 25th. Mr. Parton and Dr. Hoffman will be presenting their report exploring the importance of these components, the security of their supply chain, and what policymakers can do to address these concerns.
To RSVP for this in-person event, please email sophie.williams@thepresidency.org
Charles Parton
spent 22 years of his 37 year diplomatic career working in or on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In his final posting he was seconded to the EU Delegation in Beijing, where he focussed on Chinese politics and internal developments. He has also worked in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Libya and Mali. In 2017 he returned to Beijing for four months as Adviser to the British Embassy to cover the CCP’s 19th Congress. He has been a Specialist Adviser on China to the UK Parliament’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. He is a Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Berlin based think tank MERICS, and a fellow at the Council on Geostrategy. He has published extensively in the Spectator, The Times, the Daily Telegraph, as well as making regular appearances on the BBC, Sky News, France 24, LBC and other media. He is a frequent speaker at conferences on China in Germany and other EU countries, as well as in the US. His interest in China focuses in particular on the Chinese Communist Party and its methods of governance, as well as on UK – China relations.