The Battle for the 5G Standards: Geopolitical Maneuvers, Chinese Leverage, and Techno World Order

The rise of China and its implications for world order debate ranges from ‘Peaceful Rise’ to ‘Thucydides Trap’ in IR scholarship. However one of the most neglected aspects of China’s ascendance is the story of its technological capabilities in the digital realm. The digital iron curtain of the Chinese Firewall is now fused with the Belt and Road Initiative alongside Made in China 2025 and has already changed the geopolitical balance of power in the global south. The policy has become more pronounced since the rise of Xi Jinping and the increasing emphasis on technological sovereignty. The Digital Silk Road is one of the least touted aspects of BRI but is most influential to the future of the world order. The penetration of Huawei in the nascent 5G market of the global south (and Europe) and near domination has catapulted the Chinese state in a unique position of leveraging and impacting the technological norm-setting in the standardization debate of the 5G use. The paper attempts to explore the Chinese attempts at leading and setting the norm standard for 5G use on the backs of their 5G rollout and its geopolitical and financial implication for the US-led liberal order.