The United States warned Argentina against the possible spying of China in the 5G network

Subtle but pragmatic The US government of Donald Trump has warned Argentina against the "risks and difficulties" that the country could face if Chinese technologies progressed in the region with the integration of the 5G network which will be used for large industrial servers and other electronic devices.

The message from the United States was sent by Treasury Department officials and former secretaries of National Security to the White House who met 10 days ago in Washington with a delegation of Argentine lawmakers led by the provisional Speaker of the Senate, Federico Pinedo and where the Deputy Minister of Finance was also Miguel Braun and the representative of the Ministry of Finance to the OECD, Marcelo Scaglione.

In accordance with the war triggered by the White House order between Donald Trump and the Xi Jinping administration, US companies have just been banned from using equipment of Chinese origin in critical telecommunications networks. The visit of legislators and finance officials in the United States has become a kind of warning for Washington.

"In all the talks we had, the United States expressed its concern to warn of the risks that Argentina would run if it did not slow down Chinese technology companies when the 5G network arrived in the country. "he explained. Infobae an exceptional source that was part of the visit to Washington. Some lawmakers sharing the delegation had the same impression, as did the opposition member. Marco Lavagna and his pro-government counterparts Luciano Laspina, Karina Banfi and Ezequiel Fernández Langan.

Among the meetings held by Braun, Scaglione and the deputies, there was a visit to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an influential think-tank of the Republican and Democratic parties based in Washington, there was also a meeting in the State Department and another at the Treasury Department. During all these meetings, there was talk about the economic crisis in Argentina, the reforms undertaken by Mauricio Macri, Trump's support to the country to become a member of the OECD and the crisis in Venezuela. But there was also a recurring theme that was the veiled warning of the United States on China's technological progress and the Chinese space station installed in Neuquén that depends on the Xi Jinping People's Army.

During a meeting that the Argentine delegation organized at SCRS, they met with former secretaries of the National Security of the White House Juan Cruz, who was with Trump between 2017 and 2018, and Mark Feierstein, who was part of Barack Obama's team between 2015 and 2017.. There, these White House referents stressed the need for Argentina to take the necessary precautions to avoid an invasion of Chinese technology.

According to three sources consulted during this meeting, Cruz expressed ironically: "We all know the name of the big Chinese technology company we are talking about, although I do not say it"he said. Some smiled because they knew exactly what they were talking about.

At the same time, the "risks and difficulties" of a "possible Chinese espionage" in the region were mentioned. Not only in Argentina but also in Venezuela and in other countries. The issue has resurfaced during visits to the State Department and the Treasury Department.

Washington men's warnings to the Argentine delegation were almost the prelude to Trump's veto yesterday against telecommunications giant Huawei, which had prevented him from entering the United States, citing reasons for ". national security ".

Trump openly warned the United States of Argentina to the European Union a few weeks ago, at the European launch of 5G, the first network to serve sensors, robots, autonomous vehicles and other devices. It is expected that Interconnection with the 5G could be up to 100 times faster than the current 4G. But this also entails risks of technological espionage. In Argentina, for the moment, the installation of this network is not planned, although experts say it will not be long in coming.

A month ago, a committee of lawmakers headed by Republican MP Kevin McCarthy was in Buenos Aires. This committee drew Washington 's attention to "Chinese espionage", the transnational drug flow and the international community' s commitment to capture the Iranians accused of the AMIA attack.

Mention of the delegation of US lawmakers to their concern for the "Chinese espionage in the region" It appeared in the official statement of the American Embbady, ​​but in the Argentine government, it was linked to the space station that has the launching and monitoring space agency of China (CLTC) that meets to the Chinese People's Army. In fact, this delegation met with the Deputy Minister of Defense, Paola Di Chiaro, to whom she had raised this thorny issue.

The trade battle between China and the United States openly includes this issue of national security. We know that the United States is committed to alerting its partners to the dangers of Chinese spying in the region. And we also know that the Trump administration was a key player for Argentina at the time the IMF defined a loan for the Macri government. For this reason, among others, the delegation that went to Washington and received a warning from the US government took note of each of the points raised and transferred them to Casa Rosada.