It looks like the U.S government is really determined to make Huawei’s telecoms business out of favor with some of its closest allies. Sources are saying that Washington is conducing an outreach campaign to countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan in an effort to persuade their wireless and internet providers to ditch the Chinese company, which they have long accused of collaborating with the Chinese government in spying over countries and territories that are heavily dependent on their telecom devices.
Currently, Huawei is the world leader when it comes to telecom equipment and only second to Samsung in terms of smartphone devices. But the US has been concerned about the company’s close relationship with the Chinese government, whom they believe have the power to compel brands like Huawei to comply with request for access. They believe that this is part of China’s aggressive moves to grain ground in a digitally connected world.
Sources are saying that they have already been briefing their government counterparts including Germany, Italy, and Japan, about the dangers of using Huawei equipment. Obviously, the US is concerned about countries where they currently have military bases in. Even though they have their own satellites and telecom network, traffic within these bases still go through commercial networks.
It seems that the US government is even offering incentives or financial aid for telecommunications development for countries that will choose to use non-Chinese equipment for their communication needs. This is especially crucial now that carriers are already preparing to buy new hardware for 5G mobile technology, and Huawei is the top producer of the equipment they will be needing to bring this “superfast connections.”
For their part, Huawei has always denied that they are beholden to the Chinese government or any other government for that matter. They emphasized that they are an employee-owned company and that they have never used their equipment to spy on other countries or to sabotage any equipment.
VIA: Wall Street Journal
