Costa Rica announces indirect ban on Chinese involvement in 5G infrastructure in August 2023
Context
In August 2023 Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves, approved a piece of legislation banning companies from involvement in the country’s 5G network unless their respective countries’ governments had signed up to an international convention (the Budapest Convention) on cybercrime. This ban applied to countries including China, Russia, South Korea and Brazil.
In October 2023 President Chaves defended this move, saying that “We Costa Ricans have to make sure that we are not brought to our knees. . . Whoever comes to install 5G equipment has to give us the certainty that this country is not going to be subject to cyber hijacking.” Meanwhile, Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications Paula Bogantes, reportedly told the country’s legislature that China was a security threat to the country’s digital network. And, speaking in the context of this legislation, Costa Rica’s Deputy Minister of Telecommunications, Hubert Vargas, told press that, under Article 7 of China’s National Security Law, Chinese firms must “share the secrets of the national intelligence work they know” with the Chinese government. Vargas went on to defend Costa Rica’s legislation as “incorporate[ing] certain limitations on economic blockades to institutions that are not being loyal partners in their relationship with others.”
Notably, in 2022 a major ransomware cyber-attack heavily impacted the government’s systems. And President Chaves’ order was given after a visiting senior US military commander, Laura Richardson, reportedly travelled to Costa Rica where she warned against Chinese investment in the region’s infrastructure. In 2023 the US announced plans to give Costa Rica US$25 million in funding to support the country’s digital infrastructure. According to one international media report, “Costa Rica’s decision was the result of sustained pressure from both American President Joe Biden’s White House and its European allies, which had been working their muscle for months to get San José officials to turn their backs on Chinese kit.”
Impact
Following a series of delays, at time of writing (October 2024) Costa Rica is yet to move ahead with the bidding process for the country’s 5G tender.
Responses
i) Chinese government and industry responses.
In October 2023 China’s leading telecommunications company, Huawei, reportedly filed a legal objection to this legislation in Costa Rica’s constitutional court, due to its exclusion from 5G contracts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, issued a statement in response to the Costa Rican Government’s October 2023 comments, which it called “irresponsible and unfounded” and stated that they “gravely affect the confidence and expectations of Chinese companies to undertake economic-trade activities in Costa Rica and they erode the good energy to develop bilateral relations.
In April 2024, the Chinese embassy in Costa Rica issued an official announcement which emphasised that the Chinese government never requires any Chinese companies to collect or acquire customer data in other countries. Furthermore, the statement alleged that the US was deliberately intervening in the China-Costa Rica bilateral relationship.
In July 2024, the Chinese ambassador to Costa Rica, Wang Xiaoyao, met with the Costa Rican Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications. Ambassador Wang further emphasised the position that no evidence supported the grounds for the 5G ban and that Chinese telecommunications companies posed no risks to cybersecurity in other countries. The Chinese embassy in November 2024 further argued that the ban did not align with the Budapest Convention and that the measure was discriminatory in nature.
(ii) Costa Rican government and industry responses
In February 2024, a Costa Rican court temporarily blocked the exclusion of China’s Huawei from bidding for the country’s 5G contracts.
Status
At time of writing (October 2024) Costa Rica is yet to move ahead with the bidding process for the country’s 5G tender – it is unclear if Huawei will be excluded from this process.
Reference list
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Bnamericas. 2024. “What is happening with Costa Rica’s 5G tender?” Bnamericas. October 10. Available at: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/analysis/what-is-happening-with-costa-ricas-5g-tender
Council of Europe. N.D. “The Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention, ETS No. 185) and its Protocols.” Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/the-budapest-convention
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Costa Rica. 2024. ‘Statement on the US’s malicious allegations relating to China and its domestic companies’ [中国驻哥斯达黎加大使馆发言人就美方涉华错误言论发表声明] April 13. Available at: https://cr.mofcom.gov.cn/kjhz/art/2024/art_3e7a183397d54bd6ade84c230cef3924.html.
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