Fifty-two years ago, the French journalist and politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber wrote a hugely successful book called Le Défi Américain (The American Challenge). In it, he warned that European industry was about to be overwhelmed by big American companies such as General Motors and Ford. Unless urgent action was taken to create bigger European companies, Servan-Schreiber argued, Europe would become a technological vassal of the US.
Today we have le défi chinois, the fear that big Chinese companies, owned or supported by the state, have the capacity to outspend and outcompete their European rivals. This is compounded by the danger that the involvement of Chinese companies like telecoms group Huawei in high-technology sectors could pose a threat to national security.
How should Europe react? The decision by Theresa May, UK prime minister, to allow Huawei to participate in the 5G data network (though not in the “core” parts of the project) suggests that the British approach to Chinese suppliers will be less restrictive than that of other countries, notably the US.