共抗霸权，俄罗斯宣布将与华为开展5G合作_风闻

作者：兰顺正

首发自：CGTN

8月23日据今日俄罗斯电视台报道，俄罗斯外长拉夫罗夫当天在一个论坛上宣布，俄罗斯准备与中国以及华为公司在5G技术方面开展合作。报道称，拉夫罗夫在讲话中承诺，在相关问题上俄罗斯不会效仿美国。拉夫罗夫表示，“我们没有（美国）那样的习惯和传统。”相反，俄罗斯有兴趣与其他国家互动，“共同创造，并将现代技术引入实际生活”。明显的是，在许多西方国家联手打压华为的当下，俄罗斯方面的表态可谓是莫大的支持。

此次俄罗斯之所以表示要和华为合作，一方面是自身确实有需求。在5G领域，尽管俄罗斯加入的较晚，但是近年来的动作却一浪高过一浪。如在2017年莫斯科就已经尝试为5G发展铺路。当时莫斯科市长索比亚宁召集主要的网络运营商，商讨以建立联盟抱团形式发展5G的可行性。莫斯科市政府希望，能吸引各大运营商的投资，到2020年力争将莫斯科建成一个5G城市。而在今年3月，俄罗斯国家无线电频率委员会做出决定，将24.25~24.65 GHz频段分配给不确定的人群以创建5G网络。7月底，俄罗斯最大电信运营商MTS在其官网上发布通告称，公司获得了由俄罗斯联邦通讯监管局颁发的，在俄罗斯境内83个地区提供频率为24.25~24.65 GHz的5G通讯标准服务许可证，牌照为有效期到2025年7月。由此，MTS成为俄罗斯第一个获得5G牌照的运营商，正式宣告俄罗斯开启5G商用时代。

但问题在于，拿到5G牌照只是第一步，俄罗斯离真正的普及还有很长的路要走，后续的5G网络建设需要大量的资本投入，连MTS总裁科尔尼亚也承认“俄罗斯在这一领域的发展进程比中国慢很多”。鉴于华为在5G研发上的成果斐然，因此俄方选择与中国华为合作一起推进俄罗斯的5G建设就显得顺理成章。其实俄罗斯与华为的合作早已开始，在2018年10月电信公司VimpelCom（在俄罗斯的品牌为Beeline）和华为共同演示了5G技术，采用混合现实（MR）眼镜传递数字化图像，实现人与人之间的对话。2019年6月，MTS与华为签署了一项协议，计划在2019年和2020年在俄罗斯试验5G网络。2019年8月，MTS使用中国华为的5G移动网络技术，在圣彼得堡州喀琅施塔得市启动了5G移动通信网络。在今年7月24日，根据相关报道，华为俄罗斯代表处运营商网络业务总裁赵磊在莫斯科举行的记者招待会上表示，华为将继续在俄罗斯投资，因为该国拥有丰富的科技人才。

另一方面，此次俄罗斯对华为打开大门也和美国的遏制有关。美俄之间本就常年不睦，俄罗斯在各个方向上都面临以美国为首的西方的压力。而在新冠疫情爆发之后，美国对于中国的敌意也陡然增高，这让俄罗斯感到有必要与中国“背靠背”共同与美国相抗衡，这其中也包括科技邻域。如在8月2日西班牙中国政策观察网站发表了古巴国际政治研究中心教授苏纳米斯·法贝罗·康塞普西翁的一篇题为《欧亚大陆，在数字区域化与技术铁幕之间》的文章。文章称，新时代使俄罗斯和中国在多个方面更加接近。冷战时期某些问题的重现使俄罗斯重新成为所谓的“新大博弈”的重要制衡因素之一。在这样的背景下，中国也发挥着重要作用，特别是在“一带一路”大规模倡议的推进过程中。不过，国际冲突在欧亚大陆扩展到技术数字领域，使得确定了共同利益范围的中俄进一步靠近。

众所周知，中俄两国作为拥有长久合作基础的伙伴国，在科技合作方面具有极大的发展空间。首先，双方建立了一系列完善的科技合作机制和坚实的项目基础。其次，俄罗斯的科技具有不平衡性，军工领域、航空领域、重工领域、基础研究领域发展较快，应用研究、消费工业部门相对薄弱，同时大量研究成果在转化、投产方面存在困难。另外俄罗斯现在正处于经济复苏、科技体制改革的攻坚时期，却饱受“囊中羞涩”的困扰。而中国随着科技的进步和经济的发展，不但在农业技术、人力资源等方面能缓解俄罗斯的困境，其丰富的外汇储备也是俄罗斯所急需的，因此两国可实现优势互补。此次俄罗斯公开表态欢迎华为，也预示着今后两国在科技邻域的合作将更为紧密，在对抗霸权国时步调更为趋同。

（以下为英文原版）

Russia’s cooperation with Huawei heralds closer China technology ties

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks at All-Russian Youth Educational Forum Territory of Meanings, August 23, 2020. /CFP

***Editor’s note:*Lan Shunzheng is a research fellow at the Charhar Institute and a member of the Chinese Institute of Command and Control. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On August 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced at a forum that Russia is ready to cooperate with China and Huawei in 5G technology, according to TASS news agency. In his speech, Lavrov was reported to have promised that Russia would not follow the U.S. on the issue.

“We will definitely not follow the example of the Americans, who simply demand that everyone not cooperate on 5G with China, in particular with Huawei,” Lavrov said. Instead, Russia is interested in interacting with other countries to “create modern technologies and implement them into practical life.” What is clear is that, at a time when many Western countries have joined forces to crack down on Huawei, this is a big endorsement from Russia.

On the one hand, Russia says it wants to cooperate with Huawei because it has real needs. Russia has been a late 5G entrant, but its moves in recent years have been more and more dramatic. In 2017, for example, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin convened major network operators to discuss the possibility of developing 5G in the form of a consortium.

Sobyanin hopes to attract investment from major operators to turn Moscow into a 5G city by 2020. At the end of July, MTS, Russia’s largest telecom operator, announced on its website that it had obtained a 5G standard service license with a frequency of 24.25 GHz to 24.65 GHz, issued by the Russian Federal Communications Regulatory Agency, in 83 regions in Russia, and the license is valid until July 2025.

Thus, MTS became the first operator to obtain a 5G license in Russia, marking the beginning of the commercial era of 5G in the country.

The problem is that getting a 5G license is only the first step, and Russia still has a long way to go before it is truly universal. The subsequent 5G network construction needs a lot of capital investment. Even MTS President Alexey Kornia admits that “Russia’s development in this field is much slower than China’s.”

Given Huawei’s achievements in 5G research and development, it makes sense for Russia to choose to cooperate with China’s Huawei to promote the construction of 5G. In fact, cooperation between Russia and Huawei has already begun. In October 2018, telecom company VimpelCom (brand Beeline in Russia) and Huawei jointly demonstrated 5G technology, which uses mixed reality glasses to transmit digital images and realize human communication.

In June 2019, MTS signed an agreement with Huawei to test 5G networks in Russia in 2019 and 2020. In August 2019, MTS launched a 5G mobile communication network in Kalunshtadt, St. Petersburg, using 5G mobile network technology from China’s Huawei.

On the other hand, that Russia has opened the door to Huawei also has something to do with American containment.

The U.S. and Russia are already at loggerheads, and Russia is under pressure from the West, led by the U.S., in all directions. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the hostility of the U.S. towards China also increased sharply, which made Russia feel the need to compete “back to back” with China against the U.S., including in its technological neighborhood.

For example, on August 2, the website of Spain’s China Policy Watch published an article entitled “Eurasia: Between Digital Regionalization and the Iron Curtain of Technology.” It contends that the new era brings Russia and China closer in many ways. The re-emergence of certain problems during the Cold War has re-established Russia as one of the important counterweights of the so-called “new Great Game.”

Against this background, China plays an important role, especially in the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative. Moreover, the spread of international conflict in Eurasia into the realm of technology has brought China and Russia closer.

As is known to all, China and Russia, as partners with a long-term basis for cooperation, have great space for development in scientific and technological cooperation. First, the two sides have established a series of sound mechanisms for scientific and technological cooperation and a solid foundation for projects.

Second, Russia’s science and technology is unbalanced. Military industry, aviation, heavy industry and basic research are developing rapidly while applied research and consumer industry sectors are relatively weak, and a large number of research achievements are difficult to be transformed and put into production.

In addition, Russia is now in a period of economic recovery and technological reform, but suffers from “lack of money.” With the progress of science and technology and the development of the economy, China can not only alleviate Russia’s dilemma in agricultural technology, human resources and other aspects, but also its rich foreign exchange reserves are urgently needed by Russia. Therefore, the two countries can realize complementary advantages.

Russia’s public announcement of its welcome for Huawei heralds closer cooperation between the two countries in their technological neighborhood and greater convergence in the fight against hegemony.