Jairam Ramesh and the assassin's mace

This is how China used Jairam Ramesh. On May 11, the official English language newspaper, China Daily, said: "The Indian side should view its trade ties with China from the broader perspective of Sino-India friendship and make efforts to root out obstacles in the way of bilateral trade… The latest import restrictions (telecom equipment) violate World Trade Organization norms. Worse, it could chill Sino-India friendship, which has been warming of late due to efforts by leaders on both sides". Finally, the newspaper said: "In this regard, the remarks by the Indian environment Minister Jairam Ramesh seem prudent".

The importance of the China Daily report is further heightened by the fact that it was an "Editor's Note", and the newspaper carries the views of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Clearly, the Chinese are using Ramesh's statement to put pressure on India politically (in India) to prise open the highly sensitive and strategic telecom sector here. The Chinese are hoping this development will force India to accommodate the Chinese stand.

From a strategic perspective, Jairam Ramesh has done unforgiveable damage to India's internal security policies. He offered not just a glimpse, but a wide look into very well-considered security concerns that had been examined for over a decade. In fact, Ramesh undermined India in his personal interest, and in the interest of another country that is not necessarily a well-wisher of India's.

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Did Ramesh forget China's stand against the India-US nuclear deal and its opposition to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) clearing India as a legal recipient of nuclear technology? There are many other instances, including ongoing issues, of China trying to stonewall or subvert India. For example, China continues to issue detached visas to Indian Kashmiris, and does not issue visas to those who come from Arunachal Pradesh.

What is the Copenhagen spirit or the post-Copenhagen warming between India and China that Ramesh is talking about? China is now the biggest polluter in the world in overall measurements, overtaking the US; India, with its 1.2 billion population, is way behind China in the global pollution index. The decision to join China, Brazil and others was made in order to set up South-South cooperation and force the developed countries to see reason and help with clean technology at least.

Ramesh also boasted that India bailed out China at Copenhagen. But China Daily made no mention of that. In fact, the Chinese position at the climate change meeting in Beijing, which Ramesh was actually attending, was that China was leading the developing countries against the developed countries. Jairam Ramesh most likely missed this.

It is evident that while denigrating India's security establishments and appeasing the Chinese for god knows what reason, Ramesh had no idea of the background of Huawei Technologies, Chinese methods of winning over foreigners, or the activities of its vast espionage establishment, which includes the Chinese diaspora.

Huawei Technologies is no ordinary telecom company. The company was started by a former People's Liberation Army (PLA) telecommunications officer, Ren Zhengfei. The money was put up by the PLA's General Staff Department's Telecommunication Department. It is clear that the company was set up by the PLA's technical espionage arm, and received full support from the government.

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An important fact to note is that Huawei is in charge of running encrypted communications of all Chinese high-level visits abroad, providing communication security to Chinese embassies and missions, and even tapping communications of important visitors to China. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his delegation were totally penetrated by Chinese electronic espionage when they visited China in August 2008. This prompted Australia to embark on a huge upgradation of their electronic firewall system, specifically designed to protect against China.

The US has taken several steps to block Huawei's takeover of American companies. This has also happened in Britain. The company is also known to have broken UN embargo on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and worked with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, when China had not recognized the Taliban government officially. This is how the Chinese work in the dark world of sabotage and espionage.

Huawei's track record in India is more than suspect. It had tried to sell a particular software at a throwaway price, less than its manufacturing cost. The software had a hidden window, transmitting all user communication and information to a station in China. There are other suspected infringements too.
But the main issue is Huawei's track record all over the world, and its dubious background.

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China's telecommunication and informatization warfare is known as the "Assassin's Mace" weapon. This is an ancient warfare tactic, where an agent is embedded in an adversary's nerve center, to act on remote-controlled signal.

The US had done this through export of electronically controlled oil pipeline control systems in Russia. They also used the tactic during the first Iraq war, and neutralized Saddam Hussein's electronic and computer command-and-communications equipment, supplied earlier by US companies.   


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The same thing can be done with electronically-operated port and airport facilities, including waterworks.
This does not mean India has to close everything to foreign participation. But decisions must be taken on companies and countries that have suspect track records.

The other question that raises red flags is why China is so insistent on access to India's telecommunication sector, ports and airports, and projects along the borders.

The Chinese have sophisticated ways of finding out the weaknesses of foreign interlocutors, and using these to influence them. Their methods include using women, wining and dining, paying attention to the interlocutor's frustrations and pampering his or her ego. "You are the greatest and you are our friend, and you can do it for both of us", is a popular line.

Jairam Ramesh needs to study China's strategy of deception.

Thanks to his gaffe, India has been severely harmed.

Bhaskar Roy, who retired recently as a senior government official with decades of national and international experience, is an expert on international relations and Indian strategic interests.