Barry Soper: The ban on the Huawei spying agency goes against the government

COMMENT:

The opportune time for the super spy agency to ban Huawei from participating in the Spark 5G Internet deployment was convenient for the government.

His embarrassing case of Czech drug dealer Karel Sroubek was a small beer compared to the Huawei bomb that fell a few hours later, a little too late for the television to provide him with a deep cover.

The GCSB on Monday informed government ministers of the ban, telling them that Huawei represented a significant security risk.

This decision has far-reaching implications for this country with our largest trading partner.

It's a win for Americans, who have urged like-minded countries not to do business with Huawei.

And given the suspicion (because that's all they are) that the telco giant could spy on the countries that use their product as Spark wanted, the GCSB will also have created the Five Eyes spy network, which includes New Zealand and the United States. Great Britain, Australia and Canada breathe better.

A cynic might say that we are more relaxed in the face of American espionage, think Waihopai, than the Chinese.

Our affable super spy, Andrew Hampton, came past my desk and entered the conversation, unofficially, with the exception of one thing: there was no pressure whatsoever. he insisted on the Five Eyes network about Huawei.

Now, all this is in the open air, so it's not surprising that the Chinese did not find the time to see Jacinda Ardern in Beijing before Christmas, she was ready from day one on the next day.

And from the decision, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed serious concerns about this, expressing the hope that the government will maintain a level playing field for Chinese companies.

There is no doubt that this decision will have consequences for us with our largest trading partner, by far.

The renegotiation of our free trade agreement will now be on the back burner.

And if politics is really a question of perception, it's hard to ignore that we finally took sides.

Huawei has been in this country for more than a decade and yet the spies did not consult until they told Spark they would not do the business as they planned – which means they will probably have to settle for a more expensive and less efficient option.

Huawei pointed out that during a test for 5G in March, they had reached a world record of over 18 gigabytes per second while their competitors could only handle one gig.

With the data transfer rates at this speed, it is perhaps what scared the GCSB. The intelligence-gathering laws passed in China last year may force telecom operators in the country to assist their spy ring.

So maybe China is the author of its own misfortune.