Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare

In a letter to British lawmakers trying to reassure London that Huawei is not assisting Chinese espionage, Ryan Ding, president of the company’s carrier business group, wrote, “Were Huawei ever to engage in malicious behavior, it would not go unnoticed.” But the United States and its allies have noticed. Washington must therefore investigate and prosecute the full range of Huawei’s apparent illegal and illicit activities, and bar any lawbreaker from contributing to U.S. critical telecommunications infrastructure.

An arrest in Canada. Another in Poland. Government bans in Canberra, Wellington, and Tokyo. Corporate snubs and ostracism in South Korea, Britain, Germany, and France. The loss of purchase orders by one of the world’s largest wireless providers. And now a 13-count indictment by the U.S. Justice Department. It has been a bad few months for Chinese telecommunication titan Huawei. Unleashing the collective power of its democratic allies, the United States may have finally found the formula for imposing real costs on its cyber adversaries.

As a second Trump-Kim summit approaches, the Trump administration cannot forget that North Korea poses a threat not only with its nuclear weapons, but also with cyber and other asymmetric capabilities. President Trump should press Kim to stop these incessant cyberattacks during their upcoming meeting.