5G, China and the Global Governance of Cyberspace

Abstract

Five years ago, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) anticipated that 2019 - 2020 would see the emergence of a prototype of 5G technology that would enable global deployment. Due to the enhanced capabilities, 5G is envisioned to be the backbone of a fully interconnected society, expanding from smart watches to entire factories. The unprecedented benefits, and also the risks of the technology brought 5G to the forefront of international debate between different stakeholders ranging from governments, to industry, to academia. The discussions were further fuelled by the US ban imposed on the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE for building the 5G infrastructure. Despite the increased attention the study of China and the development of 5G, beyond the US moratorium it is still new and under- studied. This research examines how the role of China in global cyberspace governance changed with the development and deployment of 5G. For the investigation, the study employs a triangulation of two qualitative methods - document analysis and discourse analysis. To unpack the research question, the study firstly examines the key international governance institutions involved in the development of 5G. Hence it provides a theoretical contribution to the latest academic debates on cyberspace governance...