Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company, is suing the US government over a ban on US federal agencies from using the Chinese technology company's products for national security reasons. The ban is contained in the Department of Defense Budget Law for the year 2019, signed by President Donald Trump in August. Even before the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, which took place in December 2018, both US intelligence agencies and the administration were in fact taking action against Huawei for fear of possible cyber attacks and spying operations carried out by China through the company's products.
According to Huawei, which denies acting in the interest of the Chinese government, the ban on US federal agencies from using its products is unconstitutional because it was not decided following a trial. The company claims that American institutions don't have enough evidence to justify the boycott, and that they specifically didn't have it back then.
In addition to the ban on its federal agencies – which according to Huawei also prohibits collaborations with external companies that use its products – the United States has asked the telephone operators of some allied countries not to use components of the Chinese company. Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have banned Huawei for the construction of future 5G networks, the new evolution of cellular telecommunications systems, to avoid potential dangers to national security.
Huawei is China's largest privately held technology company and overtook Apple in production volumes in 2018, becoming the second largest smartphone maker after Samsung. However, it continues to be a less common brand in the United States, also due to the limitations imposed by the government and Congress. The US government lawsuit announced today was filed in a court of law in Plano, Texas, and is part of a broader strategy for the company to respond to US charges against it. Among other things, Huawei has invited many foreign journalists to visit its offices to improve its relations with the public and has bought a page in the Wall Street Journal to tell American customers to “not believe everything they hear”.
Last week Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, had sued Canada over his arrest, which took place at the request of the United States: he claims that his civil rights have been violated. The United States had requested the woman's extradition, accusing Huawei of violating the trade embargo imposed on Iran by selling telecommunications products that use licensed US patents. Meng was later released on bail, but her passports were withdrawn and ordered not to leave the country.
Weekly Post # 8 – What's behind the Huawei case
