Is the west too wary of huawei
Huawei has aroused unprecedented scepticism in the us and Europe. Meng wanzhou, chief financial officer of huawei, was arrested on dec 1 while the turgeon meeting, which is still on the table, threatens a trade war between China and the us. Now, huawei's 5G technology is a "" suspect" "in the west.
Huawei, a Chinese firm, has become a bigger part of the global market in recent years, both for the telecoms equipment it supplies and the handsets it sells. However, the arrest of meng wanzhou in Canada at the request of the us seems to be a big turning point. The incident triggered a diplomatic crisis between China and Canada, but to no avail. On January 28, the us department of justice formally announced the indictment of Chinese telecom giant huawei and its chief financial officer, meng wanzhou, on charges including money laundering, bank fraud and stealing trade secrets. Shortly after the meng wanzhou incident, huawei executives in Poland were arrested on espionage charges...
US President Donald trump will announce a ban on huawei and other Chinese equipment entering the us 5G market, the New York times reported, citing senior us sources. The ban is said to be aimed at "hostile forces". Not only is the us prepared to block huawei outright, it is constantly asking its Allies to do the same. Now, Australia, New Zealand and other countries have closed their doors to huawei, and the Czech republic, which was eager to make peace with China a few months ago, has suddenly turned against huawei. In December last year, the Czech cyber security agency suddenly issued a directive warning huawei of a potential national security threat. Imagine the cordial scene just a few months ago between Czech President zeman and Chinese President xi jinping. No one expected the most direct action against huawei to come from the Czech republic.
Huawei has already run into trouble with us Allies Germany and the UK, with some Nordic countries also wary. But does the UK's latest assessment that huawei's risks are "manageable" mean it has better technology to prevent them?
Who makes huawei so suspect in the west? Some analysts say China's revised intelligence law, which was amended last year, will do more harm than good to huawei's global expansion. Under the law, China's state intelligence agencies have the right to ask Chinese citizens and Chinese agencies to gather intelligence outside the country, and the U.S. has long argued that the Chinese government could use huawei for espionage or cyberwarfare. Ren zhengfei, huawei's founder, told the BBC on January 18th: "huawei will never spy for the Chinese government. Mr Ren said huawei had not been asked to do so by the Chinese government and would not do so. But the suspicion in the west is that companies as powerful as huawei can resist Beijing's demands.
As 5G is a highly strategic high-tech field, the west seems to have to guard against it, and France cannot stay out of it. Le monde reported that "France may strengthen its control over huawei products on the grounds of national security". To prevent espionage and theft, the French government plans to set up a stricter pre-approval system.
After the meng wanzhou incident, the Chinese government spent far more energy on it than on a private enterprise. China's growing rhetoric on huawei's behalf, accusing the United States of politicizing the company, has heightened suspicions in the west that huawei has a special relationship with the Chinese government.