US: My Way or Huawei!

The targeting of Huawei’s CTO (1) has unleashed a game of tit for tat within the Telecoms industry, and led to further cooling of relations between China and the US (2), and prompting Huawei to consider relocating its supply chain to mainland China (3).

The race to 5G is pitting the US and China against each other, with the US calling on its allies to further ostracize Huawei (4), citing risks of national security (5). Huawei has in turn accused an American firm of unfair licensing practices (6) related to 5G patents.

Chinese consumers are outright rejecting the lack of innovation in American smartphone products (7), preferring to stay with local brands (8).

While the US maintains its legal right to extradite Huawei’s CTO under allegations of breaching sanctions, the reality is that it smacks of a politically motivated maneuver to take down a Chinese giant. Whether or not the attention is warranted is the question that, as of yet, has no definitive answer (9).

The US’s security concerns seem rather outlandish when considering that the FBI, CIA, and NSA have been under constant fire for allegations of spying on the American people and demanding backdoors built into Apple tech. America’s allies seem to have tired of the accusations without proof (10) as the campaign to ostracize Huawei meets global opposition (11).

Perhaps the US is jealous over a potential rival to its proprietary Western spy network (12) and military supremacy (13).

---

References

1. US to formally seek extradition of Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou

2. The Huawei indictment marks the end of US and China's cycle of trust

3. Huawei Asks Suppliers To Move Production Out Of US: Nikkei

4. In 5G Race With China, U.S. Pushes Allies to Fight Huawei

5. The real reason America is scared of Huawei: internet-connected everything

6. Briefing: Huawei files suit against US firm over patent practices · TechNode

7. Retailers are slashing iPhone prices across China as consumers say the phones aren't worth the cost

8. WSJ report explores how the iPhone XR is the ‘phone that’s failing Apple’

9. Huawei Sting Offers Rare Glimpse of the U.S. Targeting a Chinese Giant

10. Trump Blockade of Huawei Fizzles in European 5G Rollout

11. Trump Campaign to Restrict Huawei Runs Into Global Opposition

12. Huawei or the West's way: Which kind of spying comes with your phone?

13. Why 5G, a battleground for US and China, is also a military conflict