United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday said that NATO needs to change its focus in order to “confront emerging threats” including “Russian aggression, uncontrolled migration, cyberattacks, threats to energy security, Chinese strategic competition” and other issues. He specifically mentioned 5G technology in relation to the Chinese threat.
Pompeo’s statements are in line with a recent push by the Trump administration to get NATO to start focusing on threats coming from China, even though the alliance was primarily designed to deter Russia.
The US has boycotted Huawei over security concerns relating to the firm’s 5G networking technology. The Trump administration has been pushing its allies to do the same in order to prevent the tech firm from providing the Chinese government with access to the data and systems of foreign governments. However, the campaign has not been highly successful, with major NATO allies including the UK, Italy and Germany resisting an outright boycott.
Read more: Pompeo urges NATO allies to adapt to new China, Russia threats
