C M Y K Nxxx,2019-01-27,A,001,Bs-4C,E2 Late Edition Today, clouds and sunshine, a milder day, high 46. Tonight, partly cloudy, low 26. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, a seasonably colder day, high 37. Weather map appears on Page 20. VOL. CLXVIII ... No. 58,220 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2019 $6.00 U.S. Scrambles to Outrun China in New Arms Race Seeking to Restrict Beijing’s Control Over ‘Central Nervous System’ for Internet This article is by David E. Sanger, most powerful weapons, short of Julian E. Barnes, Raymond Zhong nuclear arms, are cyber-con- and Marc Santora. trolled, whichever country domi- Jeremy Hunt, the British for- nates 5G will gain an economic, in- eign minister, arrived in Washing- telligence and military edge for ton last week for a whirlwind of much of this century. meetings dominated by a critical The transition to 5G — already question: Should Britain risk its beginning in prototype systems in relationship with Beijing and cities from Dallas to Atlanta — is agree to the Trump administra- likely to be more revolutionary tion’s request to ban Huawei, Chi- than evolutionary. What con- na’s leading telecommunications sumers will notice first is that the producer, from building its next- network is faster — data should generation computer and phone download almost instantly, even networks? over cellphone networks. Britain is not the only American It is the first network built to ally feeling the heat. In Poland, of- serve the sensors, robots, autono- ficials are also under pressure mous vehicles and other devices from the United States to bar that will continuously feed each Huawei from building its fifth gen- other vast amounts of data, allow- eration, or 5G, network. Trump of- ing factories, construction sites ficials suggested that future de- and even whole cities to be run ployments of American troops — with less moment-to-moment hu- including the prospect of a perma- man intervention. It will also en- nent base labeled “Fort Trump” — able greater use of virtual reality could hinge on Poland’s decision. and artificial intelligence tools. MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES And a delegation of American But what is good for consumers In Caracas, Venezuela, a line of people waiting to buy butter and pasta, a sign of the economic crisis that has dragged on for years. officials showed up last spring in is also good for intelligence serv- Germany, where most of Europe’s ices and cyberattackers. The 5G giant fiber-optic lines connect and Continued on Page 11 Huawei wants to build the switches that make the system Rubio Driving Standoff Adds to Trump’s Vulnerability for 2020 hum. Their message: Any eco- nomic benefit of using cheaper Compounding the harm to Mr. Chinese telecom equipment is out- U.S. Strategy weighed by the security threat to This article is by Alexander Slide in Polls May Even Trump on Friday was the indict- Burns, Jonathan Martin and Mag- ment of Roger Stone, his political the NATO alliance. In Venezuela gie Haberman. Inspire a Challenge adviser for several decades, on Over the past year, the United charges of lying to investigators States has embarked on a President Trump’s defeat in his and obstructing the inquiry by the stealthy, occasionally threat- border-wall standoff with Con- in the Primaries special counsel, Robert S. Mueller ening, global campaign to prevent By PETER BAKER gress has clouded his already per- and EDWARD WONG III, into Russian interference in Huawei and other Chinese firms ilous path to a second term in the 2016 election. The indictment from participating in the most WASHINGTON — His hand 2020, undercutting Mr. Trump’s even among Republicans and stir- was taken by some Republicans dramatic remaking of the plumb- chopping in the air, his voice stern cherished image as a forceful ring concern among party leaders ing that controls the internet since as the surest sign yet that Mr. and stalwart, he declared that it leader and deft negotiator, and about his ability to navigate the it sputtered into being, in pieces, Mueller’s investigation is likely to QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG was time for the regional despot to emboldening alike his Democratic next two years of divided govern- 35 years ago. grow more painful to Mr. Trump go and warned of the conse- challengers and Republican dis- ment. Mr. Trump, close associates The administration contends A Huawei cellphone assembly quences if he did not. With a com- senters who hope to block his re- acknowledge, appears bereft of a and his associates before it wraps that the world is engaged in a new plant in Dongguan, China. mander in chief’s resolve, he election. plan for mounting a strong cam- up. arms race — one that involves vowed that the United States The longest government shut- paign in 2020, or for persuading Mr. Trump still commands the technology, rather than conven- would do whatever it took to pro- down in history inflicted severe the majority of Americans who loyalty of a passionate electoral tional weaponry, but poses just as FORCED TO QUIT Canada’s ambas- tect its own diplomats on the political damage on the president, view him negatively to give him base that has rallied to him in try- much danger to America’s na- sador to China had commented on ground. dragging down his poll numbers another chance. Continued on Page 15 tional security. In an age when the the Huawei case. PAGE 4 It was not the commander in chief but Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who nearly three years after losing his own bid for the presidency has be- Truce Is Closer In Gene Trials, come a lead policy architect and de facto spokesman in a daring After 17 Years Sickle-Cell Cure and risky campaign involving the United States in the unrest that is now gripping Venezuela. Of Afghan War Seems in Reach Through sheer force of will and a concerted effort to engage and educate President Trump, Mr. Ru- By ROD NORDLAND By GINA KOLATA bio has made himself, in effect, a and MUJIB MASHAL Scientists have long known virtual secretary of state for Latin KABUL, Afghanistan — The what causes sickle-cell disease America, driving administration United States and the Taliban are and its devastating effects: a sin- strategy and articulating it to the closing in on a deal to end Ameri- gle mutation in one errant gene. region from the Senate floor, as he ca’s longest war after six days of But for decades, there has been did the other day, and every televi- some of the most serious Afghan only modest progress against an sion camera he can find. Perhaps peace negotiations to date inherited condition that mainly af- no other individual outside Vene- wrapped up on Saturday. flicts people of African descent. zuela has been more critical in The talks in Doha, Qatar, lasted With advances in gene therapy, challenging President Nicolás much longer than planned and that is quickly changing — so Maduro. longer than any previous attempt much so that scientists have be- “He’s picked a battle he can’t to end the 17-year conflict, and gun to talk of a cure. win,” Mr. Rubio, 47, said of Mr. Ma- both sides publicly reported In a half-dozen clinical trials duro in an interview on Friday. JENNA SCHOENEFELD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES progress — a rarity. The chief planned or underway, re- “It’s just a matter of time. The only A Transportation Security Administration agent at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. American negotiator, Zalmay searchers are testing strategies thing we don’t know is how long it Khalilzad, said on Twitter that the for correcting the problem at the will take — and whether it will be talks were “more productive than genetic level. peaceful or bloody.” they have been in the past” and he Already a handful of the en- It was Mr. Rubio who has been hoped they would resume shortly. rolled patients, who have en- whispering in Mr. Trump’s ear A Nation Adrift in Vast Ripples of the Shutdown He also said he was flying to the dured an illness that causes ex- since the early days of his presi- Afghan capital, Kabul, for consul- cruciating bouts of pain, strokes dency about the depravity of Mr. Ten days after that, she left her had her answer in news leaked tations with the government. and early death, no longer show Maduro’s government and the By JULIE BOSMAN home in the Chicago suburbs, from Washington: The shutdown “We have a number of issues signs of the disease. need for American leadership. rode a train downtown and joined was finally coming to an end. CHICAGO — On Day 1 of what left to work out. Nothing is agreed Among them is Brandon And it was Mr. Rubio along with demonstrators on a windswept “I’m waiting with bated breath,” would become the longest govern- until everything is agreed, and Williams, 21, who lives with his Vice President Mike Pence and Federal Plaza, her cheeks mottled she said on Friday, glued to her ment shutdown in the country’s ‘everything’ must include an in- mother in Chicago. Because of his others who urged the president to phone for bulletins that congres- history, Mary Kelly had a typically pink from the cold. tra-Afghan dialogue and compre- sickle-cell disease, he had suf- back an opposition leader seeking sional leaders and President American view of the situation: “I was never scared during hensive cease-fire,” he said.