March 18, 2019
A China Daily editorial looks at the ongoing fracas involving tech giants Huawei.
China’s Palace Museum signed an agreement on Friday with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to promote the use of its 5G telecommunications technology. With the new generation telecoms technology, the Forbidden City, which is the tourist site that welcomes the largest number of visitors in the world each year, will definitely provide state-of-the-art services.
Supported by the much faster mobile network, the museum will likely be digitalized to such an extent that visitors thousands of miles away may be able to explore it in virtual reality. And those visiting it in person will be able to learn about the treasures it houses in greater detail with the aid of digital technology.
In the past 20 years since the museum started to facilitate its work with digital technology, a lot of information about the cultural relics it preserves has been provided on its app, and multiple digitalized ways have been employed for visitors to have a more rewarding experience.
The cooperation between the museum and Huawei will now take that to an even higher level, as the new generation of telecoms technology will enrich the experience of visitors to the museum, virtually and in reality, even further. And if conditions become mature in the near future, it will not just be visits to the Palace Museum that 5G transforms.
With 5G networks and a smartphone, one will be able to have a consultation with a doctor without leaving home or give instructions to robotic cleaners to do household chores.
In fact, what the new 5G networks represent is none other than the next technological revolution. There is no reason to politicize the arrival of this next-generation technology. Neither is there any reason to demonize what Huawei, as one of the world biggest telecoms equipment providers, is doing to usher in this technological revolution.
What is even more dangerous than the harm done to fair competition in the world market is the negative impact the political barriers some Western countries have put in the way of Huawei will have on the evolution of technology.
Huawei, which is a private company that has no affiliations to the government, can provide the most advanced technologies and equipment for 5G mobile networks. Those trying to block it on national security grounds are simply not keeping up with the times.
No country has provided any solid evidence to support the accusations that the Chinese telecoms giant presents a threat.
What they’ve done to Huawei will, as technology progresses, be shown to be nothing more than a political farce.