China Wanted to Host WRC to Counter US Influence at ITU: Former Delegation Chief
Holding the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Shanghai (see 2512010044) poses special challenges and the U.S. must make sure its management remains as neutral as possible, said Steve Lang, U.S. ambassador to the last WRC in 2024. Lang also said China likely pushed to hold the conference because officials there were concerned about growing U.S. influence at the ITU. Lang spoke on a Technology Policy Institute podcast posted late Thursday.
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Information security will be a special concern in China, Lang said. The U.S. delegation will worry about secure electronic communications but also any “confidential conversations in person on the ground” there, he said. That will require “a lot of advanced work by the U.S. government to make sure that we have as many mitigation measures in place as possible,” he said.
The other concern is that China, as the conference chair, will play an important role in setting the agenda, Lang said. The U.S. goal should be to make sure China manages the conference in “a neutral and objective way,” he said. The U.S. government will have to work with other governments that share its concerns and with the ITU, he said. The U.S. has “very realistic concerns” and needs to keep pressure on China to demonstrate that “it can host this conference in a neutral way,” he said. China’s “influence over the outcomes,” through how it manages the conference, “is definitely not insignificant,” Lang said.
Lang said China probably pushed hard to chair the WRC because the ITU itself is now led by an American, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who took the helm in 2022 (see 2209290044). The previous secretary-general was China’s Houlin Zhao, who held the post from 2015 to 2022, Lang noted. The election of Bogdan-Martin “reflected a setback in China’s influence in the organization, and their offer to host the conference in China reflects an effort to try to restore some of that influence,” he said.
TPI President Scott Wallsten asked Lang if the Trump administration's leadership style, which “seems to do everything ad hoc at best,” works against U.S. success at the next WRC. Because the issues at the conference are “quite technical,” there’s usually “a lot more consistency across administrations,” Lang responded. Getting the right person installed early to lead the U.S. delegation is critical, he said.
Lang also observed that the WRC is by its nature complicated. “Every country has a seat at the table, including some very difficult and challenging adversaries,” he said. The ITU allows private sector participation, but it’s “limited,” which is “less than ideal,” he said. Affecting the conference's outcome is “a little bit like … changing the course of an aircraft carrier,” he said. “The earlier you start to do it, the easier it is.” The U.S. needs to identify what it wants to achieve at the conference before “effectively engaging diplomatically” with other nations, he said.