In the news: standardization, public opinion, Huawei and more
At the end of 2020 and in early 2021, news media has covered some of my work ranging from Huwei to standardization, European public opinion of China, technical standardization and more.
Technical standardization:
Although China's growing footprint in international technical standardization is one of the most crucial dimensions of Chinese influence through high technology it receives relatively little media attention. German newspaper "Handelsblatt" has addressed this shortcoming in its recent piece on how tech standards shape the world. The article (in German) was published on 1 January with comments from Betty Xu, Claudia Barkowsky and myself among others. In another piece, "Financial Times" cites a study I wrote for the Heinrich Böll Foundation last year as yet another example of the geoeconomic challenges awaiting the US-China-EU relationship in 2021.
"The China Challenge", 14 January 2021, Financial Times.
You find more of my work on technical standardization here.
Huawei:
The question whether to include technology of China's tech giant Huawei into Europe's 5G infrastructure has captured a lot of attention over the last two years. In November, Sweden decided to exclude the Chinese technology firm. Sweden's leading daily "Dagens Nyheter" published a piece in early December discussing the political implications of the decision and the structure of Huawei. Before the Christmas break, the German cabinet also decided on a new IT security law that needs to pass German parliament before coming into effect. The draft law essentially postpones the decision and rather prescribes the procedure of decision-making. In the context, German radio "Deuschlandfunk" has broadcasted an excellent piece that that discusses the issue in detail. In another piece, German economic paper "Wirtschaftswoche" covers the results of a recent public opinion poll (more below) showing that a majority of Germans takes a rather skeptical view and wants European companies to do the rollout of 5G.
On a somehow different issue, Swedish daily "Expressen" reports that Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjöström has decided to end her relations with Huawei.
"Kinas plan: Verbala attacken mot Sverige ska skrämma Tyskland", 26 January 2021, Dagens Industri.
"Sweden faces Chinese blowback over Huawei ban", 21 January 2021, Politico.
"Streit um die „Lex Huawei“", 18 December 2020, Deutschlandfunk (Radio)
"Huaweis högkvarter hyllar Europa – men känslorna är obesvarade", 23 November 2020.
"Beskedet: Sjöström avslutar samarbetet", 10 December 2020.
You can find more information about my work on the technology rivalry around 5G here and on the ban of Huawei from Sweden here.
Political values:
In late-November, I have published a new paper discussing whether and how the EU can carry out a principled policy towards China. The piece, published with French think tank IFRI, focuses on the role of political values, namely democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In a roundup, Coda Story reports of the 25 recommendations I propose in the IFRI paper.
You find a summary of my IFRI paper here and the entire paper here.
Public opinion:
Under the leadership of my Czech colleague Richard Turcsanyi from the Palacky University of Olomouc, I have contributed to a project covering the public opinion of China across Europe. German leading daily newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reports some of the core results from Germany which I have been responsible for. Swiss paper "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" goes into further detail.
The Swedish results that I have described in a piece with my UI colleague Björn Jerden have been subject of a commentary in Sweden's leading daily "Dagens Nyheter".
"Deutsche blicken zunehmend skeptisch auf China", 24 November 2020, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
"Ledare: Lisa Magnusson: Svenskarna är bra på att skilja på Kina och kineserna", 29 November 2020.
More information about the entire project is available here.