1 January 2020

Huawei assures Chinese people after a long trade war

By Wen Sheng 

File photoThis year will pull down its curtain without much fanfare for the divisive tariffs war initiated by the US government, which has put global economic growth on the precipice. The tumult of the trade tussle is driving many people to shudder. 

However, Huawei, a star technology company, bears the brunt of the US' ferocious assault, but refuses to surrender, and is now gaining even broader support from the world, which is all the more reassuring to the people who believe in impartiality and justice. 

In May 2019, when the Trump administration accelerated the trade war against China by adding the company to a trade ban blacklist, the Chinese people were aghast and angry, as many disbelieved the company could survive the US attack. 

However, the company is not only a Chinese company but also the world's Huawei. 

Having started from scratch in the 1980s, Huawei is currently the global leader in information and telecommunications technology in both 4G and 5G, hardware and software, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and many other hi-tech frontiers.


With its technology breakthroughs, Huawei has brought about great success to many economies and astronomical changes to people's way of life. Without Huawei, the digitalization process in China and many other countries will be much slower or impossible. 

Nevertheless, not every country sees the hi-tech venture as a blessing. 

The government of the US is envious, dubious and hateful of Huawei. Politicians in Washington see everything from their lens of maintaining the US' technology predomination and national hegemony. In their eyes, what Huawei has attained over these years in technological innovation is equal to the loss of the American tech industry. 

And, these politicians have become relentless and extreme. To kill Huawei, they decided to cut American supplies to Huawei, and fanned top-ranking US officials to curse and smear Huawei. The US has thrown the whole weight of a superpower state to crush a technology venture that is outside its loop. 

Just like Washington imposed high tariffs on steel and aluminum on the majority of the countries alleging to "protect US national security," the Washington politicians have made up a slew of accusations against Huawei that center on the company's technology as being "unsafe," and that it will compromise "national security." 

As a matter of fact, nearly all European countries are using Huawei's 4G technology and not a single state has ever detected that the company's telecom gears were equipped with "back doors." Ironically, it is no secret that nearly all the European leaders are hook-tapped by American intelligence agencies.

Lately, Robert C. O'Brien, the US national security adviser, was persuading the British government to shun Huawei because "5G is a national security issue." O'Brien alleged that the company is going to "steal wholesale state secrets" from Britain, according to The Financial Times.

But, the fact still remains that Huawei has been transparent and clean in Britain for nearly 20 years, having established extensive business ties and creating thousands of jobs. Huawei has confidence that governments in Europe such as those in Britain, France, Germany and other countries will stand on the side of justice and create a level playing field for all 5G network vendors. 

As a member of multiple global 5G standards organizations, Huawei has been deeply involved in 5G network security from the start, and has ensured that cyber security is embedded in its network development. 

Britain, Germany, France and countless other nations will find it very difficult to follow the order of Washington and choose to oust Huawei because Huawei's 5G technology is the most advanced in the world, and also because affordability of Huawei's equipment is hard to resist. 

If a government bans Huawei and buys 5G gears from other manufacturers at a much higher price, the people of that country will discover that their government is bowing to the US at the cost of their paid taxes. And, simultaneously, Chinese people will find out which country is not upholding justice, and "witch hunting" Huawei. Eventually, there will be a price to pay. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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