UN slavery report + China’s interest in Open RAN + Jack Ma

Eager eyes are currently turning to Geneva – even before her departure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet promised the publication of her controversial China report. Bachelet has barely two weeks left to do so. More than a few observers fear that she has fallen for the Chinese narrative. Her report will show if that is true – when it finally comes out.

Another, no less important UN report is already making serious accusations against the People’s Republic. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, considers it proven that “forms of slavery” occur both in the autonomous region of Xinjiang and Tibet. Marcel Grzanna took a closer look at the document. The report bluntly states exactly those accusations that China has always rejected

The involvement of Huawei or ZTE in the European 5G network expansion is an ongoing issue. In the past, it was primarily the distribution network between the stations and the providers’ backbone lines that were considered critical. However, since the Huawei debate and with 5G, the focus has begun to shift to the mobile network‘s endpoints, writes Falk Steiner. One idea to ensure more security at the endpoints is Open RAN, a system of predefined, standardized radio network components and software. Of all parties, Chinese players are currently shaping the Open RAN Alliance. The EU Commission and the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) are raising concerns.

Jack Ma apparently wanted to alleviate concerns among authorities. Our Beijing team reports that Ma wants to transfer a large part of his voting shares in Ant to executives to clear the way for an IPO. However, this is not only good news for the group.

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Amelie Richter