共抗霸權，俄羅斯宣佈將與華為開展5G合作_風聞

作者：蘭順正

首發自：CGTN

8月23日據今日俄羅斯電視台報道，俄羅斯外長拉夫羅夫當天在一個論壇上宣佈，俄羅斯準備與中國以及華為公司在5G技術方面開展合作。報道稱，拉夫羅夫在講話中承諾，在相關問題上俄羅斯不會效仿美國。拉夫羅夫表示，“我們沒有（美國）那樣的習慣和傳統。”相反，俄羅斯有興趣與其他國家互動，“共同創造，並將現代技術引入實際生活”。明顯的是，在許多西方國家聯手打壓華為的當下，俄羅斯方面的表態可謂是莫大的支持。

此次俄羅斯之所以表示要和華為合作，一方面是自身確實有需求。在5G領域，儘管俄羅斯加入的較晚，但是近年來的動作卻一浪高過一浪。如在2017年莫斯科就已經嘗試為5G發展鋪路。當時莫斯科市長索比亞寧召集主要的網絡運營商，商討以建立聯盟抱團形式發展5G的可行性。莫斯科市政府希望，能吸引各大運營商的投資，到2020年力爭將莫斯科建成一個5G城市。而在今年3月，俄羅斯國家無線電頻率委員會做出決定，將24.25~24.65 GHz頻段分配給不確定的人羣以創建5G網絡。7月底，俄羅斯最大電信運營商MTS在其官網上發佈通告稱，公司獲得了由俄羅斯聯邦通訊監管局頒發的，在俄羅斯境內83個地區提供頻率為24.25~24.65 GHz的5G通訊標準服務許可證，牌照為有效期到2025年7月。由此，MTS成為俄羅斯第一個獲得5G牌照的運營商，正式宣告俄羅斯開啓5G商用時代。

但問題在於，拿到5G牌照只是第一步，俄羅斯離真正的普及還有很長的路要走，後續的5G網絡建設需要大量的資本投入，連MTS總裁科爾尼亞也承認“俄羅斯在這一領域的發展進程比中國慢很多”。鑑於華為在5G研發上的成果斐然，因此俄方選擇與中國華為合作一起推進俄羅斯的5G建設就顯得順理成章。其實俄羅斯與華為的合作早已開始，在2018年10月電信公司VimpelCom（在俄羅斯的品牌為Beeline）和華為共同演示了5G技術，採用混合現實（MR）眼鏡傳遞數字化圖像，實現人與人之間的對話。2019年6月，MTS與華為簽署了一項協議，計劃在2019年和2020年在俄羅斯試驗5G網絡。2019年8月，MTS使用中國華為的5G移動網絡技術，在聖彼得堡州喀琅施塔得市啓動了5G移動通信網絡。在今年7月24日，根據相關報道，華為俄羅斯代表處運營商網絡業務總裁趙磊在莫斯科舉行的記者招待會上表示，華為將繼續在俄羅斯投資，因為該國擁有豐富的科技人才。

另一方面，此次俄羅斯對華為打開大門也和美國的遏制有關。美俄之間本就常年不睦，俄羅斯在各個方向上都面臨以美國為首的西方的壓力。而在新冠疫情爆發之後，美國對於中國的敵意也陡然增高，這讓俄羅斯感到有必要與中國“背靠背”共同與美國相抗衡，這其中也包括科技鄰域。如在8月2日西班牙中國政策觀察網站發表了古巴國際政治研究中心教授蘇納米斯·法貝羅·康塞普西翁的一篇題為《歐亞大陸，在數字區域化與技術鐵幕之間》的文章。文章稱，新時代使俄羅斯和中國在多個方面更加接近。冷戰時期某些問題的重現使俄羅斯重新成為所謂的“新大博弈”的重要制衡因素之一。在這樣的背景下，中國也發揮着重要作用，特別是在“一帶一路”大規模倡議的推進過程中。不過，國際衝突在歐亞大陸擴展到技術數字領域，使得確定了共同利益範圍的中俄進一步靠近。

眾所周知，中俄兩國作為擁有長久合作基礎的夥伴國，在科技合作方面具有極大的發展空間。首先，雙方建立了一系列完善的科技合作機制和堅實的項目基礎。其次，俄羅斯的科技具有不平衡性，軍工領域、航空領域、重工領域、基礎研究領域發展較快，應用研究、消費工業部門相對薄弱，同時大量研究成果在轉化、投產方面存在困難。另外俄羅斯現在正處於經濟復甦、科技體制改革的攻堅時期，卻飽受“囊中羞澀”的困擾。而中國隨着科技的進步和經濟的發展，不但在農業技術、人力資源等方面能緩解俄羅斯的困境，其豐富的外匯儲備也是俄羅斯所急需的，因此兩國可實現優勢互補。此次俄羅斯公開表態歡迎華為，也預示着今後兩國在科技鄰域的合作將更為緊密，在對抗霸權國時步調更為趨同。

（以下為英文原版）

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.