Over the last couple of years, the world has witnessed an intensifying competition over 5G networks, triggered to a large extent but not exclusively by the geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. To the backdrop of allegations that the Chinese government could force Chinese telecom company Huawei and ZTE to spy, sabotage or take other action's on Beijing's behalf, Washington ordered prompt restrictions on products from Huawei and pressured its allies to do the same. From a European perspective, Sweden stood out early as a country with a strong stance on 5G security by outright banning Chinese telecom providers Huawei and ZTE from taking part in Sweden's 5G frequency auction. This thesis seeks to understand how the securitising process of Sweden's 5G networks was initiated and evolved, through a comparative case study of the four main securitising actors' official discourses. Derived from previous studies on cybersecurity and securitisation, this thesis constructed an analytical framework tailored for the securitisation of 5G networks. The thesis is carried out as an idea analysis, looking for articulated threats pertaining to three distinct threat dimensions: 'network security', 'data and information protection' and 'China's assertiveness'. The analysis showed that all four...

The bilateral relations between Sweden and China have been characterized by strong trade relations over the years. Nonetheless, several events between 2015 and 2020 have led the diplomatic relations between Sweden and China to take a different turn. Among them, the arrest of the Chinese-born Swedish writer and book publisher Gui Minhai and the alleged abuse of human rights by the Chinese government towards its population. These issues raise questions on how the Swedish government approaches the opportunities and challenges of China’s growing role internationally. This thesis has the purpose to analyse the Swedish government’s reports, statements and other documents regarding China in the period 2015 to 2020, with the intention of unveiling the Swedish foreign policy ideational foundation. Moreover, this thesis has the aim to examine whether it is possible to see a variation of the ideational foundation during these years. The analysis included the use of social constructivism as a theory and the VDP-triad methodology. From the analysis, it resulted that in the observed time period, Sweden’s foreign policy ideational foundation was characterized by the value of cooperation, especially regarding trade. Moreover, during the period observed Sweden characterized for being more active on criticizing China in regard to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. With China, Sweden is thus forced to balance two competing agendas: to pursue its interests and to promote its values.