The Clean Network
The Clean Network is a U.S. government-led, bi-partisan effort announced by then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in August 2020 to address what it describes as "the long-term threat to data privacy, security, human rights and principled collaboration posed to the free world from authoritarian malign actors."
[2][3][4][5] In December 2020, the United States announced that more than 60 nations, representing more than two thirds of the world's gross domestic product, and 200 telecom companies, have publicly committed to the principles of The Clean Network.
According to Bloomberg, Krach is credited with coordinating a variety of national and regional approaches to shape a more unified international project, relying on trust more than compulsion—a notable change in tone after years in which the Trump administration pursued a go-it-alone, "America First" strategy.
[8] On April 22, 2021, David Ignatius of the Washington Post stated that Krach's Clean Network provides continuity with the Biden administration's desire to get democracies together on the same playing field on technology.
[10] Krach described the Huawei effort as a “beachhead” in a wider battle to unite against Chinese economic pressure in everything from investment to strategic materials that bears the hallmarks of 'good old fashioned' diplomacy, in contrast to a somewhat more confrontational style at the beginning of the administration.
[12] Researchers have noted that the announcement of the Clean Network was met with indifference in many major European countries, among concerns that the initiative would fragment the internet, with many also skeptical of US claims that Huawei poses an uncontrollable security threat.
The United States government sees these efforts as part of its commitment to an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure global Internet based on shared democratic values and respect for human rights.
In July, after U.S. regulators labeled Huawei and ZTE Corp. as threats to national security, a Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the U.S. of "abusing state power" to hurt Chinese companies "without any evidence."
[1] On April 12, 2021, Harvard Business School published a case study on "The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition," noting that "the controversial program to some heralded a new era of multilateral, democratic governance of the internet and to others augured a "splinternet" where market participants and countries had to choose between the U.S. and China.
The concern raised by Secretary Pompeo is that those vendors are required to comply with directives of the Chinese Communist Party, including possibly revealing private or confidential information.
The United States of America seeks to ensure untrusted People's Republic of China carriers are not directly connected with U.S. telecommunications networks because the U.S. believes that such companies pose a danger to U.S. national security.
In December 2020, the United States announced more than 60 nations, representing two-thirds of the world's gross domestic product and 180 telecom companies have publicly committed to the principles of The Clean Network.
[7][30][62] The ‘Trust Principle’ is based on democratic values which includes respect for the rule of law, property, press, human rights, and national sovereignty, protection of labor and the environment, and standards for transparency, integrity, and reciprocity.
[63] Under Secretary Krach deployed the “Trust Principle” doctrine building the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies to protect global 5G infrastructure and creating a usable model for overcoming authoritarian economic threats.
This creates a “high-integrity, level playing field for reliable collaboration with the understanding that there is no prosperity without liberty.”[1] A key tenet for the Clean Network's Trust Principles is human rights.
Under Secretary of State Keith Krach and EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton met in Brussels to discuss cooperation in securing telecommunications infrastructure.
Under Secretary Keith Krach and Commissioner Thierry Breton urged stakeholders to carefully weigh the long-term impact of allowing “high-risk suppliers” access – directly or indirectly – to their 5G networks when building their telecommunications infrastructure and services.
Between September 21 and October 4, 2020, Under Secretary of State Keith Krach visited eight European countries, including EU and NATO headquarters, to discuss the goal of building a Transatlantic Clean Network.
[74] First, Krach's team partnered with the Commerce Department to secure an announcement from TSMC that it will build the world's most advanced five-nanometer chip fabrication facility in Arizona.
[75] The impact catalyzed a critical piece of legislation that Krach championed called the Chip Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will help bring semiconductors production vital to national security back to the United States.
The Chip Act reinvests in this national priority by providing targeted tax incentives for advanced manufacturing, funding research in microelectronics, and emphasizing the need for multilateral engagement with our allies in bringing greater attention to security threats to the global supply chain.
[75] Second, the State Department successfully launched its 5G Clean Path initiative, which requires all 5G data entering or exiting facilities to transit only through trusted equipment, and never through from untrusted vendors such as Huawei and ZTE.
[74] The Clean Path stratagem raised the cost for telco operators who were contemplating Huawei 5G by creating a critical mass of network traffic from their customers that required that all sources feeding into it had to run on only trusted equipment.
[74] Third, Krach's State Department team succeeded in expanding the Foreign Direct Product Rule to prevent Huawei from "dodging" U.S. export controls.
Undersecretary Krach said "the participation of the Dominican Republic in the Clean Network paves the way for the expansion of investments by the US private sector and strengthens mutual guarantees for like-minded partners in the region and other parts of the world.
At the Munich Security Conference in February 2020, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) warned European countries they will "choose autocracy over democracy" if they let Huawei take part in rolling out 5G technology, in a sign of the bipartisan US political pressure over the Chinese company.
"[79] Another article predicted that Biden would limit China's influence by continuing to support the Clean Network plan of building alliances with allies, partners, and like-minded countries to promote values of human rights, democratic principles, and market economies.
The practice of politicizing the 5G issue and creating small circles is not conducive to the development of 5G, goes against the principle of fair competition, and does not conform to the common interests of the international community.
[13] Xuewen Gu of the University of Bonn's Center for Global Studies noted that the US did not make great headway in convincing its European allies that Huawei poses an uncontrollable security threat, with several of the countries listed in the Clean Network already broken their commitments to the initiative.
[85] Andy Müller-Maguhn gave a statement in June 2021 at a hearing on "Innovative Technologies and Standardization in a Geopolitical Perspective" of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the German federal parliament.
