The deputy chairman of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Jens Spahn, has called on the federal government to review Germany’s dependence on China every year. “In the future we need a China check for all areas:
The traffic light should submit an annual report on dependencies on China and what consequences it draws from it,” said the CDU politician of the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”. With a view to the role of Chinese manufacturers in the expansion of the 5G network, Spahn said: “We have to become more independent of China and telecommunications is a critical infrastructure.”
As can be seen from a letter from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to the network operators that became known yesterday, it considers that components from Huawei and ZTE may affect public order and security in Germany. Therefore, all critical – i.e. safety-relevant – parts that are already installed in the network should be subjected to an inspection.
So far, this obligation to test only referred to critical parts that were newly installed. Before Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who has been in office since the end of 2021, the CDU with Angela Merkel had been the head of government for years.
