It brings the ample resources of US diplomacy to convince nations and companies to adopt only “clean” hardware to build their information networks. This is because the hardware is cheaper and in many aspects superior to rival technologies from western countries. It involves restricting open social media apps such as TikTok as well as convincing countries to begin shifting away from reliance on Chinese hardware providers, specifically Huawei and ZTE. Despite the higher costs of keeping to “clean” hardware instead of patronizing Chinese suppliers, many countries and hundreds of companies have aligned with the Clean Network initiative. Whether or not Beijing nurses a strategy for dominating the 5G world through the pervasive use of Chinese hardware, the US initiative is simply bad for business.
