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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
Isobel Asher Hamilton,Isobel Asher HamiltonMar 3, 2019, 14:00 IST
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo (left) and Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei.Laszlo Balogh/Getty images/AP Photo/Vincent Yu
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The US and Chinese phone giant Huawei are at each other's throats.
America claims Huawei is used as a backdoor for the Chinese government to spy. Huawei denies this.
The US has been lobbying allies to reject Huawei's 5G technology, but not everyone's listening.
The tension between the US and Huawei has reached fever pitch over claims the Chinese tech company acts as a backdoor for the Chinese government to spy.
Meanwhile, Huawei chairman Guo Ping lashed out at the US while presenting at MWC, saying it has "no evidence, nothing," that the firm spied on behalf of the Chinese government. It used the tech show to parade its 5G network ambitions, including debuting its foldable 5G phone, the Mate X.
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The US has been furiously lobbying its allies to freeze out Huawei's 5G network equipment, citing national security concerns. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allied countries in mid-February that it would be "more difficult" for the US to partner with countries that didn't distance themselves from Huawei.
Its lobbying efforts have been met with mixed success. Here is a run-down of how allies have reacted.
A major US ally, the UK continues to voice concerns about Huawei, but may still decide to use its 5G equipment.
The Financial Times reported last month that the British government decided it could "mitigate the risks" associated with using Huawei's 5G technology.
On Monday, Jeremy Fleming, the head of the UK's cybersecurity agency GCHQ, said the UK had not yet made a decision on integrating the firm's tech into networks.
"We have to understand the opportunities and threats from China's technological offer, understand the global nature of supply chains and service provision irrespective of the flag of the supplier (and) take a clear view on the implications of China's technological acquisition strategy in the West," Fleming said at a summit in Singapore, as reported by CNBC.
In an interview with the BBC, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei hinted that the UK could benefit from the vacuum left by the US.
"We will invest even more in the UK. Because if the US doesn't trust us, then we will shift our investment from the US to the UK on an even bigger scale," he said.
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 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
A Wall Street Journal report on February 21 suggested that the US is not having much luck in convincing India to freeze Huawei out.
"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.
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
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.
