The origin of Corona, the cause of cancer, a Chinese instrument of power against the West – How dangerous is 5G?

Conspiracy theorists who believe that dark powers are pursuing their own interests at the expense of the vast majority have been around since ancient times. As is well known, Nero used an arson conspiracy theory to persecute the unwelcome Christians. In the Medieval Ages, at the time of the Great Plague, it was the alleged well poisoning by the Jews that led to terrible pogroms. There was the theory that women with expertise in natural medicine were in league with the devil, which gave rise to cruel witch-hunts, or the rumor that the Knights Templar performed secret and sacrilegious rituals, which is why the French King Philip IV put them on trial, when all he really wanted was their money. During the French Revolution, there was an abundance of conspiracies, which could easily be used against political opponents in order to bring them to the scaffold.

So it is hardly surprising that absurd conspiracy theories are also spread in the times of Corona. For example, mobile phone masts were set on fire in Holland and England in April, because a rumor said that the Corona virus was transmitted by 5G mobile phone technology. The reason for the appearance of the Corona virus in Wuhan was the high concentration of 5G masts there, according to the theory of the perpetrators. A further argument: Covid-19 rages mainly in areas with high 5G coverage. This cannot be a coincidence. The simple fact that more people live in such areas does not occur to conspiracy theorists.

Now perhaps we could put this theory to rest with a smile, because in the meantime the virus raged especially in areas where there are comparatively few 5G masts (Brazil, Chile, India, Russia). But even before the Corona crisis, 5G was a favorite of conspiracy theorists. In particular, there is the ever-present warning that the electromagnetic waves used to transmit information to our mobile devices are highly harmful to our health, far more so than other mobile technologies, because the 5G frequencies are shorter than the mobile waves that have been used to date. And: 5G is the technology of China, which enables the rising power to gain digital control over the West. We should dismiss the links to the corona crisis as completely absurd. But let us take a closer look at these two other points.

5G waves represent electromagnetic waves in the frequency spectrum of radio waves. By definition, these are electromagnetic waves whose frequency is below 300 gigahertz. Above 300 GHz, or below one millimeter wavelength, the range of infrared radiation begins. The visible light range begins then at frequencies a factor of one thousand higher, which translates into an energy of its photons that is equally a thousand times higher than the highest energy radio photons.

The frequency ranges used for broadcasting, long, medium, short and ultra-short waves, start from 30 kHz and go up to 300 MHz (wavelengths from 10 km to 1 meter). Above these are the microwaves, a subgroup of radio waves, which covers the range from 0.3 GHz to 300 GHz (wavelength of one meter to one mm). Microwaves are used for WLAN, Bluetooth, radar, satellite broadcasting and amateur radio services, among others, as well as for the mobile phone networks. The latter operates in the range from 800 MHz to 2.6 GHz. In Germany. The old GSM mobile communications standard is assigned the frequency ranges from 890 to 915 MHz, from 935 to 960 MHz, from 1,710 to 1,785 and from 1,805 to 1,880 MHz; the UMTS standard uses the frequencies from 1,920 to 1,980 MHz and from 2,110 to 2,170 MHz; the LTE standard for 4G networks operates in the 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2 GHz and 2.6 GHz ranges. The new 5G technology uses frequency ranges above these: Midband 5G uses microwaves from 2.5 to 3.7 GHz, while high-band 5G frequencies range from 25 to 39 GHz (just below the beginning of the millimeter wave range).

However, according to experts on the biological effects of electromagnetic radiation, radio waves at higher frequencies are safer and not more dangerous to humans. This is because the higher the frequency, the less deeply the radiation penetrates the body. While high-frequency radio waves can heat unprotected biological tissue in the body (because, as with microwaves, they cause water molecules to vibrate; however, microwave ovens have a much greater power than mobile phone radiation), for those and for frequencies above those, the skin acts as a barrier and protects the internal organs, including the brain, from exposure. Human skin is known to block even the several orders of magnitudes higher frequencies of visible light. Only for extremely high-frequency electromagnetic energies such as UV- or X-rays, which are far above the energy of visible light, this protection no longer holds. Their energy is then sufficient to also directly damage the genetic material.

Despite these apparent biophysical facts, there are still a number of “experts” who consider radio waves for the 5G technology to be “extremely hazardous” to health. “The higher the frequency, the greater the risk of brain cancer,” they say. According to this logic, visible light should increase cancer rates immeasurably. Their statements simply do not stand up to scientific scrutiny: In numerous studies scientist have not been able to find any health impairments such as an increased risk of cancer due to 5G waves.

In addition to the scientifically untenable warning about the massive risks of the 5G technology, there is also the economic and technology policy statement that with 5G technology China could take over an unacceptable technological leadership in the world and, if the new 5G networks were to be implemented globally, could be superior to the West in terms of intelligence or even carry out cyber-attacks on Western facilities. It is well known that the Chinese government has great influence on the companies in their country. In June 2017, China passed the National Intelligence Law that requires every organization and citizen to assist in national intelligence work in accordance with the law, to cooperate with the government secret services, and to keep any national intelligence work of which they are aware secret. Western analysts interpret this law to mean that Chinese companies must cooperate with intelligence agencies, including installing back doors to steal data for the Chinese government. With good reason, there is little confidence in the goodwill of the Chinese government in the West. It is to be feared that the Chinese government will continue and extend its brutal policy of power and interests, which it has so far only exercised in its own direct sphere of influence (Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan). And have the United States in particular not demonstrated for years that espionage is possible precisely through technological superiority? The US secret service even succeeded in tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor. Is this maybe just about maintaining the American lead?

Analysts argue that the risks of Chinese telecommunications facilities vary depending on the location within the mobile network architecture. Most networks are divided into two areas: the core network, which is the gateway to the Internet and ensures that the devices meet the requirements and standards of the provider, and the radio access network, which consists of mobile phone masts that send and receive radio signals. These analysts say that the risks posed by Chinese core networks are significant, but the risks from Chinese radio access networks can be addressed.

In response to national security concerns, the U.S. Congress passed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act in 2020 calling on the President to develop a strategy to protect 5G systems and infrastructure in the United States and to assist allies and partners in their own protection efforts. The US government published its 5G strategy in March 2020 and has since already banned the use of Huawei products and applications in national communications networks.

While concerns about the health risks of 5G networks are unfounded, security concerns should indeed be taken seriously, even if Donald Trump’s foolish appearance on the international (and national) stage leads us to refrain from doing anything he does or say. But also here, as so often, the devil lies in the details.