Some governments have had the foresight to have taken the bull by the horns and protect its citizens from what it sees as possible security threats.  But in Malta we prefer to wait around until there is some kind of European Union decision on Chinese telecommunications operator Huawei.

The thing is that while several Western governments have banned Huawei from operating on their soil, in proposed partnership with the private sector, what does our government do?  It enters into a public partnership itself with the company..

Huawei, China's first global tech brand and the biggest maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies, has spent over a decade battling US accusations that it is a front for Chinese espionage activities.

But while Huawei has been banned from operating with the private sector in some Western countries over such concerns, our own government has struck up a partnership with the heavily beleaguered company.

This newspaper yesterday sought answers from the government over its relations with Huawei, but it preferred to hide behind the EU’s apron, saying that Europe has not yet taken a stance as regards Huawei.

But do we really need an official EU stance when we are one of, if not the only, EU government that has hopped into bed with Huawei so quickly.

But Malta must be the only EU member state that has struck up such a direct partnership with the company, which is quickly becoming the bête noir, or perhaps the Trojan horse, of the telecommunications industry.

The Maltese government’s warm reception of Chinese mobile operator Huawei’s 5G operations is curious to say the least – they have partnered up with the government to test out 5G services while other countries’ governments are banning the private sector from even using them.

Huawei, it must be noted, had already been practically blocked out of the US market after six top intelligence chiefs - including the CIA, FBI, NSA and the director of national intelligence It has been blocked from rolling out Australia's 5G network due to security concerns as the involvement of a company ‘likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government’ simply presented too much of a risk. Several other countries have taken, or are contemplating taking, similar steps.

If other countries who are serious about their citizens’ privacy are taking such steps, one must wonder why Malta is welcoming the company’s 5G technology with open arms. One should also wonder what assurances, if any, the Maltese has sought from the operator.

None, it would seem.

Now link all this to the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that the government is looking into installing facial recognition technology – a massive area of development for Huawei - on the streets of Malta to prevent lawlessness, as opposed to the far more sensible option of putting more police officers on the beat.

This suspect sequence of events in Malta is highly concerning but the government will, no doubt, put this all down to a combination of happenstance and conspiracy theories.

Such things may be allowable in places like China but in the EU this is anathema to citizens’ right to privacy, and the mere thought of the implementation of any trace of such technology should make people recoil in horror.  But the Maltese government is giving it all a very warm welcome.

And the thing that we need to ask ourselves is, why?  Why is it so important to have the outfit operating from Malta, who stands to gain from those operations and how will the citizen be affected?  These are answers that we will most certainly not get any time soon, but time will most certainly tell.