U.S. Expected to Seek Reversal of Vote Approving China to Host Next WRC

China engaged in “heavy-handed” tactics to halt debate and force the ITU decision, filming the vote in apparent violation of ITU rules, industry observers said. The ITU said 25 out of 48 council members voted in favor of Shanghai hosting, 17 against, with five abstentions and one invalid vote.

“A WRC held in China works to the extreme disadvantage of the United States,” said Scott Harris, managing partner of Crest Hill Advisors. It “also works to the disadvantage of the ITU itself and many other member states.” Member states can override the council’s decision, and “as hard as it might be ... I think the U.S. should explore doing so,” he said. Harris previously chaired the FCC’s WRC Advisory Committee.

Holding the WRC in China “just increases challenges for people to attend,” said HWG lawyer Tricia Paoletta, also a former WRC Advisory Committee chair. “It’s a surveillance state,” she said. “Free flow of communications is going to be very tricky.”

Paoletta said there will be a consultation process on the WRC location, allowing all members to weigh in, but the outlook is uncertain. “It’s a tough path,” she said. “China is obviously very influential … and a number of countries are indebted to them, and they can call in chits.” But other countries have similar concerns as the U.S., she added.

Industry officials said potential issues include some tech companies' refusal to send senior officials because of the risk of detention. The host nation also traditionally chairs the meeting, which would give China outsize influence in controlling the flow of the meeting, they added.

Holding the WRC in Shanghai will create problems for governments and the private sector alike, a former senior FCC official said. “Everyone knows that the Chinese government places spyware on visitors' electronics and will use a gathering like the WRC as a precious intelligence-gathering opportunity,” the official said. “And given the Trump administration's hawkish stance with China, it is anybody's guess what posture the departments of State and Commerce will take regarding this controversial venue now that it is official."

Choosing China as the host won’t mean less participation by Western nations and companies, emailed Tony Rutkowski, who previously served as counselor to two ITU secretaries-general. "They will all participate, and it should be a solid success because of the resources and facilitation of the work.”

Rutkowski said that in many satellite and related tech sectors, "China has been a highly visible leader -- devoting considerable resources and facilitating collaboration." Supposed security concerns about being in China “were fake, and everyone knew it,” he said. "China hosts scores of major telecommunication/[information and communication technology] international industry and intergovernmental meetings a year in Shanghai and multiple other China venues -- as they have been doing for decades,” he said. "What is not fake is the concern worldwide about the U.S. venue. Most of the international colleagues with whom I work in the cybersecurity field will not travel to the U.S. anymore, and the few who do say they bring burner phones."

Hosting the WRC “will highlight China's attempts to dominate wireless standards,” emailed Joe Kane, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's director of broadband and spectrum policy. It will also “create challenges” for the U.S. and its allies, “both from the soft power the host country can exert and from the basic logistical and security concerns inherent in an in-person conference held in China.”

The meeting location would mean that it’s more important than ever for the U.S. to develop “a strong, unified position and plan strategically for how to advance it at the WRC,” Kane said. “Fragmentation and executive-branch infighting will only play into China's hand and make it difficult to persuade countries on the fence to push back on China's authoritarian vision for the future of wireless and space.”