According to foreign media reports, the White House is preparing to launch a new "Alliance for the Future of the Internet" in the coming weeks, and it seems increasingly likely that a major principle of this move will involve blocking the entry of so-called "untrusted" suppliers, including Huawei, which the US government lists as "untrusted" into the global network.
If this happens, it means that US President Biden will continue the Trump administration's crackdown on Huawei. Under the guidance of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the State Department launched a "Clean Networks" initiative in 2020 that essentially calls on U.S. allies not to cooperate with Huawei and other Chinese suppliers.
Chart: U.S. government "Clean Network" program participating companies.
One of the core principles of the U.S. State Department's Clean Network states: "Suppliers are more trustworthy if they are transparent in their financing, employ best practices in procurement, investment, and contracting, and have a record that is appropriately reviewed by the public or regulators." "While the plan does not directly name Huawei, it is clear that the company is one of its targets.
This is exactly the same language used by the Biden administration. According to an earlier draft of the Internet Future Alliance, published by Politico late last year, proponents will make a "commitment to use only trusted providers in the core ICT network infrastructure."
At an event at USTelecom this week, a senior Biden administration official specifically mentioned Huawei in his comments.
Ruth Berry, director of digital technology policy and international economics and competitiveness at the White House National Security Council, said: "The United States is very concerned about the risks posed by unreliable suppliers such as Huawei. To address these threats, governments around the world are encouraged to develop rules and regulations to ensure that untrustworthy and high-risk vendors cannot participate in the provision of network equipment and software for next-generation networks. ”
As Politico points out, Ruth Berry said the White House hopes to officially launch the Internet Future Alliance "in the coming weeks." She said the coalition will focus on getting other governments committed to internet openness, competition, human rights and bridging the digital divide. She described the launch of the alliance as a starting point. "Our goal is to initiate a global dialogue." She said.
According to a lengthy report by Protocol, the White House initially hoped to launch the Internet Future Alliance late last year, but canceled the program at the last minute due to concerns about its scope and permissions.
Still, the alliance's early proposal explicitly called for the adoption of a "trusted vendor" for core internet infrastructure. "It's a club without China, and there's no other way to interpret it." Graham Webster, editor-in-chief of the DigiChina program at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Center, told Protocol. "Who they're talking about, that's not at all obscure."
According to new comments from biden administration Ruth Berry, Huawei appears to remain in the sights of U.S. officials. She said the government's goal is to work with other governments to protect not only 5G infrastructure, but also wired networks, data centers and other internet devices.
Ruth Berry also called for "vendor diversification" and specifically called for more support for Open RAN devices. This is noteworthy given that senior Trump administration officials have discussed Open RAN technology as a way to encourage the development of U.S.-based equipment suppliers and stop the rise of "untrusted" suppliers such as Huawei.
Huawei has repeatedly denied claims that its equipment could be used for Chinese government espionage.
To be clear, blocking the purchase of Huawei equipment is not the only goal of the upcoming Alliance for the Future of the Internet. Ruth Berry said the coalition will also seek to prevent the spread of misinformation, the threat of cyberattacks, internet shutdowns, and government use of the internet as a "control tool." in Ace