Washington's browbeating over 5G wears thin

In what some are viewing as backpedaling from her previous stance on the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Europe should work out a common strategy toward the rollout of the next generation 5G mobile network.

"It is undisputed that we need high security standards for the development of 5G networks," Merkel told lawmakers. "But we must also discuss this with other European countries" and try to come up with "European solutions". She added that there should be a centralized European Union agency for "5G certification".

Merkel has previously defied pressure from Washington to exclude Huawei from taking part in the bidding process for 5G equipment in Germany, insisting the country would define its own security standards for a new 5G mobile network and not "simply exclude one company or one actor". So perhaps rather than backpedaling, it was a call for support, as she has been the one that has continually stood firm in the face of the Washington's attempts to browbeat its European allies into doing its bidding, regardless of whether it is in their best interests or not.