Debate, Jens Stoltenberg | Jens hard against China
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At NHO’s annual conference, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg issued strong warnings against China. He says to Nettavisen that it is dangerous for our own security to become too dependent on goods from China and production in China:
– We had an important discussion about the 5G network in Norway and other NATO countries. A few years ago, many believed that it was purely a commercial issue. More and more people are now realizing that whoever controls the 5G network has a security aspect. This network is absolutely essential for almost everything we do in modern society.
Read also: Stoltenberg fears prolonged war: – Be prepared
Ask Huawei
Both Telenor and Telia scrapped Chinese Huawei as supplier of the 5G network in 2019, after the government had laid down its security requirements.
Stoltenberg is pleased with this decision:
– Now Norway and other NATO countries have gone from a situation where the security aspects of interaction with China have been given little emphasis to increasingly placing more emphasis on them. It’s good, and I welcome that, he says to Nettavisen.
See the community leaders at NHO’s annual conference 01/05/2023 14:33
Celebrated submission of China
As recently as 2016, the situation was completely different. Then the Solberg government, led by Foreign Minister Børge Brende, celebrated that they had “managed” to get Norway out of the “freezer box”. China had frozen relations with Norway for six years as punishment after the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
But it was a bitter “victory” Brende was so excited about. He and the Solberg government had had to fall completely flat for China and accept all the demands of the Chinese Communist Party. The text of the so-called “normalisation agreement” states that Norway accepts China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that Norway will not support actions that could undermine China’s core interests.
Also read: Stordalen on Jens Stoltenberg: – World class
Sharper points towards China
In more everyday language, this means that Norway cannot criticize China for the oppression of the people in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. And also do not object to the fact that the Communist Party of China considers the independent state of Taiwan to be part of China’s territory.
Those who have followed since 2016 have not heard anything particularly critical of China since the agreement was signed, either from the Solberg or Støre governments. Jens Stoltenberg believes that we now have to toughen our stance towards China:
It is dangerous to depend on authoritarian states
– The war in Ukraine has shown us how dangerous it is to depend on authoritarian states, he says, referring to Europe’s previous dependence on gas supplies from Russia.
– Now we must not make the same mistake with other authoritarian countries, such as China. We must not sell them advanced technology that they can later use against us. I think we should still deal with China, but not in such a way that it could affect our own security.
“War is too serious a matter to be left to the generals,” said the French statesman Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand at the end of the 18th century. Today, Stoltenberg warned business in the same way:
Spoke to NHO: – Weapons are the way to peace
“Shop is also politics”
– Shops are also politics, and business politics is too serious to be left to business people.
He elaborated as follows:
– It’s about not making us dependent on certain raw materials, for example certain minerals. And it’s about us controlling the infrastructure, everything from airports and ports to the 5G network.
Today, there are several European countries where the authorities have allowed Chinese companies to buy heavily into ports and other infrastructure projects.
“The authorities must make rules”
Stoltenberg is responsible for the companies to be careful in trading with authoritarian states, but that it is the authorities who must make the rules.
It was a clear call to the Norwegian government, which has so far kept a very low profile on the question of how much we should deal with China – and what kind of goods we should seek to get from other countries or produce ourselves.
The pandemic showed us how extremely vulnerable we are in the health field. Both when it comes to equipment for the healthcare system and medicines, we are almost completely dependent on imports from other countries, especially China.
Must increase the degree of self-sufficiency with medicines
Another of the participants at NHO’s annual conference was managing director Leif Rune Skymoen from the pharmaceutical company Curida. He addressed import dependency:
– We may have forgotten it, but at the start of the pandemic we were millimeters from a major crisis.
He advocated a drastic increase in the degree of self-sufficiency in medicines:
– The state should cooperate with producers in Norway, and also step in on the owner’s side.
Outcompeted when China dumped the price
Today, we are very vulnerable when it comes to also getting the green shift if we come into conflict with China. The Chinese Communist authorities can threaten us into obedience as long as we have not freed ourselves from our almost total dependence on important minerals and metals from China.
An example is the metal magnesium, which has been completely developed for the development of green technology. Until 20 years ago, Norway had its own production of magnesium at Hydro’s plant on Herøya. Then the Chinese dumped the price, and Norwegian production was shut down. Now China controls 95% of the world magnesium market.
In negotiations between the EU and Norway, there has been talk of restarting production on Herøya, but so far it has only ended in talk. The government wants Norway to become a major producer and supplier of batteries. Then metals such as lithium and cobalt are needed. Most of the world’s exports of these metals are controlled by China.
China can control the green shift in Norway
If Norway wants to limit its dependence on imports from authoritarian countries such as China, we must find alternative sources of critical metals. And maybe also start producing some of them yourself. Batteries are a typical strategic product, which can ensure our security if a country can prove access to them.
If Norway is to take Stoltenberg’s warnings seriously, it is not only the business world but also the political authorities that need to get out of their slumber as soon as possible. So far, we have seen neither rules for trade with authoritarian states nor an action plan for how Norway will be able to carry out the green shift without making us even more dependent on China than we already are.
Also read: Stoltenberg warns: – We must not repeat the same mistake with China