scorecard
  1. Home
  2. slideshows
  3. miscellaneous
  4. Trump's administration is warning US allies to stay away from a powerful Chinese company - but not everyone's listening

Trump's administration is warning US allies to stay away from a powerful Chinese company - but not everyone's listening

Britain

Trump's administration is warning US allies to stay away from a powerful Chinese company - but not everyone's listening

Germany

Germany

Several unnamed German officials told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that Germany was leaning towards allowing Huawei to take part in building 5G networks in the country.

Officials told the Journal that the agreement was preliminary, and still had to be approved by the full cabinet and Parliament, which won't happen for several weeks.

Japan

Japan

Japan effectively banned Huawei, along with fellow Chinese tech company ZTE, from winning any government contracts back December 2018, shortly after Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada. The Washington Post reported at the time that Japan's three biggest telecom operators planned to follow suit.

India

India

A Wall Street Journal report on February 21 suggested that the US is not having much luck in convincing India to freeze Huawei out.

Read more: The US is having a tough time persuading the world's biggest democracy to ditch Huawei

"Huawei is today at the frontier on 5G and so can't be ignored," an unnamed Indian official told the Journal. The same official added that India would select 5G vendors on its own terms, "not under pressure" from the US.

India is a rapidly expanding online market, and will be a major win for Huawei if it can start selling its 5G kit in the country, and conversely a huge blow to the US.

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, a major ally of the US in the Middle East, on Tuesday announced that it will this year deploy a 5G network built by Huawei, signifying a major setback in America's lobbying efforts.

An unnamed American official told the Wall Street Journal that the US will watch the UAE-Huawei partnership closely.

Poland

Poland

After Polish security services arrested a Chinese Huawei employee on allegations of spying in January, both Huawei and the US seem to have stepped up their game in courting the country.

During a February visit, US Vice President Mike Pence praised the country for its commitment to "protecting the telecoms sector from China."

Poland is considering excluding Huawei, and the company has been furiously trying to win back favor, even offering to build a "cybersecurity center" there.

Australia

Australia

Australia banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying tech for the country's networks in August 2018. In response, China said Australia was using "various excuses to artificially erect barriers," and called on it to "abandon ideological prejudices and provide a fair competitive environment for Chinese companies."

New Zealand

New Zealand

In November 2018, New Zealand blocked Huawei's 5G technology. Its intelligence agency shot down a proposal from one of the country's biggest telecom carriers Spark to use Huawei equipment in its 5G network, citing "significant security risks."

In February, Huawei reacted by taking out full-page ads in New Zealand newspapers saying "5G without Huawei is like rugby without New Zealand," trying to draw a parallel between its own 5G tech and New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team.

Most recently, it seems New Zealand could be persuaded to let Huawei in. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in mid-February that the door was not totally shut, saying there's not yet been a "final decision."

"It is now currently with Spark to mitigate the concerns that have been raised. That is where the process sits," she said.

Advertisement