유럽을 사로잡은 화웨이의 로비 전쟁

A new corruption scandal related to China is rocking the EU. But this is just one of many examples of Beijing ensnaring Europe's political elite. Welcome to China Uncensored, I'm Chris Chappell. And big news, there's a new free China Uncensored newsletter. Sign up at ChinaUncensored.substack.com. It's the key to our strategy to get around YouTube and Apple's censorship of the show. I'll tell you more at the end. So Europe's relationship with China has been a bit complicated lately. Last year, the European Union imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The CCP wasn't happy about that. But after recent, uh, tensions between Europe and the United States, China is now trying to portray itself as an alternative to the US. But it looks like things are only going to get more complicated. Because the European Parliament has been rocked by a corruption investigation linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei. This is the same Huawei the US banned from selling certain communications equipment, citing national security risks. Sounds like whoever thought to do that is going to start rightfully throwing around some I-told-you-sos. It's also the same Huawei that the Pentagon added to a list of 20 Chinese companies controlled by the People's Liberation Army. So what exactly happened? Well, after a lengthy investigation following a tip-off from Belgium's Secret Service two years ago, earlier this week, Belgian police conducted a series of raids on Huawei's EU offices in Brussels, along with the home of Huawei lobbyists in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia, and Portugal. Do Belgian police have jurisdiction in Portugal? According to Follow the Money, an investigative news portal, this was all part of an investigation into bribery, forgery, money laundering, and criminal organization. According to a statement from Belgium's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the corruption took various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions, or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses, or regular invitations to football matches. And yes, I said food was one of the items. I guess now we all know the lengths some people will go. For a Klondike bar. Prosecutors said that several people are being questioned, and that one person has been arrested in France. They also said that the corruption was hidden in commercial lobbying, which would explain all the raids on lobbyists' houses, and that the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei. There's no public information available about most of the suspects. But according to Follow the Money, one of the suspects is Belgian-Italian Valerio Otati, a 42-year-old lobbyist who joined Huawei in 2019 and became its EU Public Affairs Director. Before that, Otati was an assistant to two Italian MEPs, both of whom were members of a parliamentary group dealing with China policy. Following the raids, a judge overseeing the case ordered seals to be placed on the offices of two parliamentary assistants at the EU parliamentary headquarters in Strasbourg. So it seems likely that some of the suspects are current EU Parliament employees as well. In response to all this, the EU Commission spokesman told reporters that the security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy, but that Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers. He suggested that EU member states move quickly to restrict or exclude Huawei from their 5G networks. Huawei has been a point of contention for a long time in Europe. Again, this is a Chinese telecom company with ties to the Chinese military, and it wanted to build Europe's 5G. And yet, French President Emmanuel Macron said of Huawei back in 2019 that he was not looking to stigmatize any particular firm or country. He also told reporters the same year at a tech conference that blocking Huawei is not the best way to defend national security. Of course not! Because the best way France knows how to defend national security is to just surrender in the face of an invading force. Because I'm sure Macron's statements had nothing whatsoever to do with Huawei beginning construction of its first European factory in France last year, with plans to become operational this year. That factory is supposed to be near Strasbourg, which conveniently houses the headquarters of the European Parliament. Yes, how could this be a threat to the EU? But Macron isn't the only European playing into Huawei's hands. In 2020, Phil Hogan, the EU's former Trade Commissioner, dismissed threats from the US to stop sharing intelligence with the UK if it accepted technology from Huawei in its 5G networks as a bit of saber rattling. Still salty over the Revolutionary War, I see. That's okay, I'm still salty over the War of 1812. But not everyone in Europe has been playing into Huawei's hands. In 2019, EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said that she was skeptical on Huawei in Europe, with concerns that the CCP could use Huawei's equipment for gathering intelligence. Which is crazy, she said could instead of would. And in 2023, the EU was considering a mandatory ban on using Huawei to build its 5G network. So it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Huawei in Europe. So of course the obvious solution is bribes and corruption to get your way. Of course, Huawei has said it's taking the allegations seriously, will cooperate with the authorities as necessary, and has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing. But the thing is, Huawei has a history of influencing European elites. For example, in Malta. A few years back, former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat partnered with Huawei to create something called Safe City Malta, a facial recognition CCTV system meant to be first implemented in crime-heavy areas of the island country. That generated a lot of controversy. For example, it was heavily criticized by privacy experts for obvious reasons. The project had a budget of almost $438,000 annually. But despite clear signs that the project was going to get shut down, the Maltese tourism ministry appointed board members to serve until June 2023. Yeah, something smells fishier than a seal's morning breath. Spoiler alert, according to Maltese authorities, the agreement with Huawei expired and will not be renewed. Muscat was charged last year with money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy as well as accepting bribes and corruption in public office. That case involved another company rather than Huawei. But if he did all that with one company, he easily could have done it with another. You know, given all the alleged Chinese spies or saboteurs being caught in the US, the Philippines, Europe, and elsewhere, one would think that by now, the Chinese Communist Party would have learned its lesson about meddling. But learning from past mistakes isn't really communists' thing. It doesn't seem to be Europe's thing either. There have been a number of corruption scandals there recently. Last year, the lead candidate for the Alternative for Germany Party, or AFD, was accused of accepting payments from Russia and China for his work as a member of the European Parliament. Now, I'm no financial or geography expert, but it seems like a European Parliament member accepting payments from other countries is a monumental accounting error at best. One of his parliamentary aides was even arrested on allegations of spying for the CCP, because CCP spies are best described the way Anakin Skywalker describes sand. They're coarse and rough and irritating and get everywhere. In addition, there was Qatargate, where several people affiliated with the EU Parliament were charged with accepting money in exchange for political favors in Qatar, Morocco, and Mauritania. Then there was the 2024 case of a Russian-influenced campaign in Brussels. And it wasn't even the cool type of Russian influencer that posts a bunch of bikini pics. In that case, the Czech Republic sanctioned a news site called Voice of Europe, with Prague accusing it of peddling the Kremlin's propaganda. The Belgian Prime Minister said that Russia had approached members of the European Parliament and paid them to promote Russian propaganda. These corruption cases in the European Parliament mean that the EU is at grave risk of losing its global reputation and power. One progressive EU lawmaker has said, the risks of corruption in Brussels is high because the EU is so influential. We need a complete investigation quickly, and finally reforms that will make the Parliament more resistant to corruption. That makes sense. Allowing these corrupt CCP influences to continue, or reacting too slowly to such cases, poses a risk to the transatlantic alliance, and also weakens democratic Indo-Pacific countries that are trying to stand up to the CCP. The good news is that maybe Europe is learning from its mistakes. The president of the European Parliament said she believed the Qatargate scandal and reform sense helped investigators catch the Huawei bribery scandal quickly. In other words, even the old continent can learn new tricks. But you know who can't? Google and Apple, who are continuing to suppress and censor China Uncensored. Don't let them get away with it. Sign up for a free newsletter to stay on top of updates from us that big tech giants would like you to never see. That's ChinaUncensored.Substack.com. I'll leave the link below. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. See you next time.