Huawei, China’s telecommunications/signals intelligence service, scored a win on Tuesday when it secured the appointment of Sir Michael Rake to its British executive board.
Perhaps Sir Michael is joining Huawei out of the goodness of his heart, or perhaps he likes communist gold. Regardless, this is a big win for Beijing, because Rake is a big player.
The former chairman of Britain’s primary telecommunications provider, British Telecom, Rake has also headed up the powerful Confederation of British Industry business lobbying group. His knowledge of, and influence over, the inside workings of British telecommunications regulations and politics will help Huawei secure its 5G footprint on U.K. soil. And from Beijing’s perspective, that consolidation is much needed.
After all, concerned by China’s rampant deception over the original November 2019 coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan city, Conservative Party leaders are reconsidering their January decision to grant Huawei a role in building out the United Kingdom’s 5G network.
There’s no question that Sir Michael will be happy with his new role. He’s made himself a loyal servant of China. In a March open letter, Rake warned against new regulations on Huawei’s activities. In that letter, the knight of the realm even lamented the government’s removal of Huawei from areas of the 4G “core” network. That removal was necessary to prevent Huawei from controlling data flows across the network. Because if Huawei controls those flows, its masters in Beijing will also control the flows.
And Rake wasn’t done there. He also warned that any new regulatory action wouldn’t simply increase costs and complications with 4G and 5G, but would also damage broader U.K. relations with China. This narrative of associated threat is central to Beijing’s messaging on Huawei. In essence, China is warning foreign governments that unless they give Huawei a role in their 5G networks, they’ll lose Chinese business deals in other areas. It’s a form of blackmail that too many European governments have yielded to.
Sadly, Rake doesn’t seem to get the bigger picture here. Or if he does, he’s simply decided to prioritize China over his own nation. In his statement to Huawei’s public relations team, Rake said he looks “forward to working with them again on the next generation of technology as the company extends its 20 year track record in the U.K.”
Considering that Chinese signals and cyber-espionage is a primary tool of Xi Jinping’s grand strategy to displace the liberal international order, we can be confident Rake’s help in extending that track record won’t be good for Britain.
