(NOTE: we apologize for the drop in sound quality at the end of the Q&A, but we decided to keep the section because of the importance of the content)

This event took place at The Institute of World Politics on September 1, 2022.

About the Lecture: The U.S. and Europe have regarded the economic relationship with China as that of a trading partner, but China views things far more seriously, seeming to view the U.S. as an opponent or worse. As an executive who was at the table when Lucent transferred its operations to China and when British Telecom deployed Huawei’s gear into its networks, Jon Pelson has unique insights into the benefits and risks of relying on networks provided by a company so close to the Chinese Communist Party.

His access to intelligence officials also illuminated the little-known realities of Huawei’s deployments around America’s nuclear missile sites and the extent of the CCP in directing China’s leading equipment companies to serve the geopolitical allies of China, from North Korea to Iran.

But as Pelson describes, the answers to the technology conflict may not lie in political maneuvering, but in unleashing the power of free countries to innovate and surpass even the massive R&D capabilities of China’s technology sector. By creating the right partnership between government and private sector, America can deliver greater solutions, faster, and help free countries retake the lead.

About the Speaker: Mr. Jonathan Pelson, a telecom industry veteran and author of Wireless Wars: China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back, tells the story of how the U.S. lost the wireless market to China and describes a path to retake the lead. The former Chief of Convergence Strategy for British Telecom and leader of organizations at other global telecom companies, he uses his extraordinary access to tell the stories of the executives who faced Huawei and China’s other telecom equipment companies, describing the grave consequences to freedom and security if we don’t respond to the threat of China’s global ambitions.

IWP Admissions: https://www.iwp.edu/admissions/

Support IWP: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=3