Huawei flourishes despite perennial hurdles in US

Huawei is the manifestation of everything the US fears and loathes about China: a high-tech giant, founded by a former army officer, that it believes has ties to the Communist party and the wherewithal to spy and steal intellectual property rights.

The inconvenient truth for the US is that it is a global behemoth, turning over Rmb603.6bn ($96bn) last year and eclipsing Ericsson as the world’s biggest vendor of telecoms equipment. It is the third-biggest seller of handsets and is in a race to lead the development of 5G, the next-generation mobile standard and an essential technology for the era of connected devices. Control over 5G was one reason US President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom’s bid for rival Qualcomm.

“The FBI and the intelligence community just don’t like Huawei,” says James Lewis, senior vice-president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think-tank. There is “compelling evidence” that it [Huawei equipment] can be used for snooping, he adds. “And that’s been true for at least 15 years.”

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