Huawei: Banned and Permitted In Which Countries? List and FAQ
Huawei Technologies in some countries faces product and 5G wireless network project bans; business contract restrictions; security scrutiny; and related pushback. Still, many countries are proceeding with Huawei as a potential or confirmed choice for 5G wireless network projects and associated infrastructure.
Here’s an FAQ explaining the Huawei controversy, along with a list of countries, organizations and technology companies, and their current business status with the China-based technology giant.
Notes:
- Initial Publication Date: This article was originally published February 3, 2019.
- Ongoing Article Updates: This article is updated regularly with details from specific countries and technology companies. The latest updates specifically involve how the United States and FCC are helping U.S. Carriers to rip-and-replace Huawei equipment.
Q: What Is Huawei Technologies’ business focus?
A: The China-based company is one one the world’s largest providers of telecommunications equipment, networking gear, smartphones and more.
Q: Why are some countries banning or reconsidering product purchases and business relationships with Huawei?
A: Numerous countries allege that the company’s products may purposely contain security holes that China’s government could use for spying purposes. Also, some countries allege that Huawei steals intellectual property from foreign technology companies.
Q: What has Huawei said about the spying allegations?
A: Ren Zhengfei, the company’s billionaire founder, broke years of public silence to dismiss U.S. accusations the telco equipment giant helps Beijing to spy on Western governments. Source: Bloomberg, January 15, 2019.
A2: Huawei is willing to sign “no-spy” agreements with governments, including Britain, the Chinese telco company’s chairman said, amid U.S. pressure on European countries to shun the firm over espionage concerns. Source: Reuters, May 14, 2019.
Q: What allegations does Huawei face in terms of intellectual property (IP) and research and development (R&D)?
A: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 28, 2019, charged Huawei with bank fraud and stealing trade secrets. In a 13-count indictment DOJ charged Huawei, its chief financial officer, and two affiliated firms with a laundry list of crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, bank and wire fraud, flouting U.S. sanctions on Iran, and obstruction of justice.
Sources: National Review, January 28, 2019 and CNN Business, January 29, 2019.
Q: Why has global discussion about Huawei’s alleged business practices intensified in recent months?
A: Multiple factors have heightened the media coverage and discussion about the company. Questions about Huawei’s business practices have intensified amid the U.S.-China trade war talks. Also, numerous countries and companies worldwide are considering 5G wireless network rollouts. Plus, the U.S. DOJ case against Huawei is now public knowledge. Roll all those variables together, and countries worldwide are trying to decide if or how to permit Huawei to participate in 5G wireless network projects. Source: ChannelE2E compiled reports.
Status Updates: Huawei Product Bans, Discussions and Debates
Q: Which countries, regions, businesses and organizations are banning, debating or rethinking business engagements with Huawei?
A: The list below is fluid and sorted alphabetically. Check back regularly for more updates.
A-A-A
Apple: Huawei has allegedly pursued information about Apple trade secrets. The alleged evidence comes from The Information. Source: The Information, February 18, 2019.
Australia: Multiple updates…
- The country has blocked Huawei and ZTE from providing equipment for its 5G network, which is set to launch commercially in 2019. Source: TechCrunch, August 2018.
- A formal WTO challenge by China to Australia’s decision banning Chinese companies from its 5G networks would force the federal government to justify its ban either on the grounds that it does not discriminate against any country or manufacturer, or that the decision was based on national security requirements. Source: The Australian Financial Review, April 15, 2019.
- Australian government officials advised India to ban Huawei from supplying parts for a rollout of a high-speed telecommunications network, Australian newspapers reported. Source: Reuters, September 9, 2019.
Austria: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz did not rule out deploying Huawei equipment in his country’s future 5G networks but said the country would coordinate its decisions with European Union partners. Source: Reuters, June 20, 2020.
B-B-B
Bahrain: Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, plans to roll out a commercial 5G mobile network by June 2019, partly using Huawei technology despite the United States’ concerns the Chinese telecom giant’s equipment could be used for spying. Source: Reuters, March 26, 2019.
Belgium: Multiple updates…
- Belgium’s center for cybersecurity has found no evidence that telecoms equipment supplied by Huawei Technology could be used for spying. Source: Reuters, April 15, 2019.
- Orange and Proximus have picked Nokia to help build 5G networks in Belgium as they drop Huawei amid U.S. pressure to exclude the Chinese firm from supplying key telecoms equipment. Source: Reuters, October 9, 2020.
Brazil: Multiple updates…
- The Brazilian telecoms regulator preparing to auction bandwidth for 5G mobile data said any decision on the security risks of using Chinese technology will ultimately be taken by the president’s national security advisor. Source: Reuters, February 18, 2020.
- Telecom Italia has excluded Huawei from a tender for 5G equipment for the core network it is preparing to build in Brazil and Italy. Source: Reuters, July 9, 2020.
- The U.S. government stepped up an offensive to keep Huawei out of Brazil’s 5G market, with Washington offering to finance purchases by Brazilian telecom companies of equipment from its competitors. Source: Reuters, October 20, 2020.
- Laiye and Huawei Cloud have partnered to “drive digital transformation in Brazil through cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and big data,” the companies said. The partnership will roll out to the rest of Latin America, the duo added. Source: Laive and Huawei, November 28, 2021.
BT Group: Multiple updates…
- The Britain telecom service provider will pull Huawei equipment out of its core 4G network by 2020 to fit its own internal policy. The move follows reports that the US is trying to persuade foreign allies’ wireless and internet providers to avoid the Chinese company’s equipment, citing cybersecurity risks. Source: CNet, December 2018.
- BT has asked the UK government for more time to remove the Huawei core of its network after supply chain concerns led to an impending ban on the equipment. Source: Bloomberg, June 29, 2022.
C-C-C
Canada: Multiple updates include…
- The country as of early February 2019 was currently considering whether to ban Huawei from providing equipment for 5G cellular networks in Canada. However, at least one small Huawei 5G network rollout is under way in the country. Source: The Globe and Mail, February 1, 2019.
- Canada is likely to postpone a decision on whether to allow China’s to supply 5G network equipment until after the October 2019 federal election, given increasingly strained relations with Beijing, say three well-placed sources. Source: Reuters, July 15, 2019.
- Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou allegedly told a Canadian border official that the company has an office in Iran — an assertion potentially buttressing U.S. claims that the Chinese tech giant engaged in activities there that violated U.S. sanctions. Source: Bloomberg, August 21, 2019.
- The U.S. national security adviser urged Canada not to use Huawei 5G technology, saying that doing so would put in jeopardy intelligence sharing with the United States and expose Canadians to being profiled by the Chinese government. Source: Reuters, November 23, 2019.
- Canada is signaling it might not compensate major telecommunications providers if the federal government bans equipment made by Huawei from 5G networks, setting up a potential fight over a bill that could hit C$1 billion ($758 million). Source: Reuters, September 13, 2020.
- Canada’s decision on whether to ban Huawei 5G gear, as all the other members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network have done, is likely to be made in “coming weeks,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Source: Reuters, September 28, 2021.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will join Canada’s closest intelligence allies in banning Huawei from 5G networks. Source: Bloomberg, May 19, 2021.
China:
- China on May 16, 2019, slammed a decision by the U.S. government to put telecom equipment giant Huawei on a blacklist and said it will take steps to protect its companies, in a further test of ties as the superpowers clash over trade. Source: Reuters, May 16, 2019.
- China warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that his decision to ban Huawei from the 5G network would cost Britain dearly in investment, casting the move as the result of politicized pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. Source: Reuters, July 15, 2020.
- China is considering retaliating against telecom gear makers Nokia and Ericsson if the European Union follows the United States and Britain in banning Huawei from 5G networks. Source: The Wall Street Journal via Reuters, July 20, 2020.
- China will take “all necessary measures” to protect its firms’ legitimate interests, the Commerce Ministry said, in response to the U.S. move this week to further tighten restrictions on Huawei. Source: Reuters, August 20, 6:00 a.m.
- China announced an initiative to establish global standards on data security, saying it wanted to promote multilateralism in the area at a time when “individual countries” were “bullying” others and “hunting” companies. Source: Reuters, September 7, 2020.
- Sweden should reverse its ban on Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from a planned 5G spectrum auction to avoid a “negative impact” on its own companies, said China’s foreign ministry. Source: Reuters, October 21, 2020.
Cisco Systems: Cisco sued Huawei in 2003, alleging that the China-based company stole Cisco source code to build Huawei network routers. Huawei denied those claims, and Cisco ultimately dropped the suit as long as Huawei modified its product line, discontinuing some products. Source: The Verge, January 2018.
Czech Republic: Huawei threatened legal action against the Czech Republic if the country’s cybersecurity agency did not rescind a warning about the risk the company poses to the nation’s critical infrastructure. Source: The New York Times, February 8, 2019.
D-D-D
Denmark: Multiple updates…
- Danish authorities have expelled two Huawei staff after an inspection at the company’s Copenhagen office showed they failed to comply with laws covering residence and work permits. The inspection had no relation to recent headlines around growing scrutiny over Huawei’s ties with the Chinese government and allegations that Beijing could use its technology for spying, something which the company has denied. Source: Reuters, February 4, 2019.
- KPN has chosen Sweden’s Ericsson to build core elements of its new 5G mobile network following a decision last year not to select China’s Huawei. Source: Reuters, October 15, 2020.
Deutsche Telekom: Multiple updates…
- Europe’s biggest telecommunications company, said that if Huawei is banned in Europe, it would delay its deployment of 5G networks by up to two years. To avoid such setbacks, Deutsche Telekom has suggested a new security certification process for mobile network equipment, which would allow telcos in Germany to continue to use products from Chinese vendors in their 5G rollout plans. Sources: Tom’s Hardware, January 31, 2019 and TotalTele, January 31, 2019.
- It would be wrong for Germany to impose blanket bans on foreign vendors of telecoms network equipment, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges said, in an answer to a question about Huawei. Source: Reuters, June 19, 2020.
- Deutsche Telekom said no telecoms equipment vendor should be barred from Germany on political grounds, reiterating its opposition to calls from some lawmakers to bar China’s Huawei Technologies on national security grounds. Source: Reuters, August 13, 2020.
E-E-E
Ericsson: Multiple updates…
- The company’s CEO said Sweden’s decision to ban China’s Huawei from its 5G telecoms networks restricts free competition and trade, the Financial Times reported. Source: Reuters, November 18, 2020.
- Telefonica has purchased 5G network equipment from Ericsson to replace some of the Huawei gear it has rolled out in Spain. Source: Reuters, December 27, 2021.
Europe: Multiple Updates…
- The European Union is considering proposals that would effectively amount to a de-facto ban on Huawei equipment for next-generation mobile networks (i.e., 5G Wireless projects). Source: Reuters, January 30, 2019.
- Huawei is ready to face any extra security measures required to remain in the race to develop next-generation 5G networks in central and eastern Europe, Andy Purdy, Chief Security Officer at Huawei Technologies USA, said. Source: Reuters, February 13, 2019.
- The European Commission the week of March 25, 2019, will urge EU countries to share more data to tackle cybersecurity risks related to 5G networks but will ignore U.S. calls to ban Huawei Technologies, four people familiar with the matter said on March 22, 2019. Source: Reuters, March 22, 2019.
- European countries appear to be tightening network security regulations rather than outright banning Huawei’s technology. Source: Bloomberg, April 15, 2019.
- A ban on buying telecoms equipment from Chinese firms would add about 55 billion euros ($62 billion) to the cost of 5G networks in Europe and delay the technology by about 18 months. Source: Reuters, June 7, 2019.
- The rollout of 5G services across Europe has being slowed by U.S. sanctions against Huawei and as European governments review the impact of using Chinese equipment, the head of Swedish telecoms group Tele2 said. Source: Reuters, July 1, 2019.
- EU countries endorsed a tough line for selecting 5G suppliers, including vetting the domestic legal framework to which they are subjected, potentially dealing a blow to Huawei. Source: Reuters, November 22, 2019.
- The European Union won’t explicitly ban Huawei or other 5G equipment vendors when the bloc unveils guidelines for member states to mitigate security risks. Source: Bloomberg, January 20, 2020.
- The EU followed Britain’s example, allowing members to decide what part Huawei can play in its 5G telecoms networks and resisting pressure from Washington for an outright ban. Source: Reuters, January 29, 2020.
- EU countries have no reason to use 5G mobile technology from Huawei because Sweden’s Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia and South Korea’s Samsung are on par with the Chinese group in the field, a senior U.S. diplomat said. Source: Reuters, February 19, 2020.
- A business group representing challenger telecoms operators in Europe warned against banning Chinese equipment vendors, saying that doing so for political reasons would force up costs and delay network upgrades. Source: Reuters, October 16, 2020.
Continue to page two for additional company and country updates, sorted alphabetically.
Can anyone explain the security issues with the Huawei equipment?
I mean the details of where the leaks and back door are present. I have work with huawri OSN (core equipement). There was nothing very suspicious about the operation.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no smoking guns against Huawei in terms of back doors for China’s government.
-jp
Does this include all Huawei smart phones? I have a Huawei Model # H1611 that I purchased in 2017 from Wal-Mart through the Straight Talk ATT prepaid. Is it safe to use?
what about Japan ?
Mona: Check in directly with your service provider for information. Our Huawei coverage above mainly involves 5G network deployments.
Arek: You raise a great question about Japan. Sorry we didn’t have that info earlier. We’ve updated the article to include Japan’s statement about Huawei.
-jp
I want to add something to this, the U.S.A. might be banning Huawei products as it doesn’t want to lose its privilege of becoming a leader in telecommunications.
This says it all.
https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/nokia-firmware-blunder-sent-some-user-data-to-china/
Hi, i’m a student about to travel to the United States for an exchange program and my parents recently bought me a Huawei phone. Am I gonna be stopped in immigration for this?
If you think and fear it might be an issue exchange it for a Motorolla or iPhone.
I don’t really think that they don’t have features which Huawei have which is highly indispensable
Mae: You won’t have any issues bringing the device into the country.
Huawei needs to be banned. Assisting China -will fully or forced- with spying, stealing other companies’ intellectual property. Now Huawei wants to temporary suspend spying and intellectual property stealing now that many recognize the horrible details of this company? They shouldn’t be rewarded for this; many other companies play by the rules. And also, really silly that this article is very anti-USA and very pro-Huawei.
Hi TH: I’d be curious to know why you believe the article is anti-USA and pro-Huawei?
-jp
Next phone to have. I think it’s safer without google apps 🙂
can huwaei sell it 5G equipment to any country after the USA ban specially the equipment has more than 25% of the USA products in it?
Thank you for the great summary
What about Filipino (Philippines) Huawei Users?
I think that US has banned Huawei because the company was trying to be like an Apple, that’s restricting info sharing with android phones. If Apple can do so, why can’t Huawei? Just a thought.
And Huawei has better features than Apple, at a lower cost, which made them rise at the top of telco race. Based on my observation, Apple users think they’re some what elite coz it’s made exclusively for them – higher cost, and sharing is limited among iOS users.
On some thought, this banning issue is to pave the way for other telcos, like Nokia and Ericsson that have been silent for quite sometime.
All in All, I’m kinda happy that all US applications or whatsoever get banned from using Huawei.
Now I feel safer using Huawei device and I prefer it that way.
No other country exploit user private data as the US do.
I live in Europe and I rather have my intel ending in China than in the US where they will be hacked by Russia …
China is a safe bet if we have to believe everything US government says.
Hi there! I ask some question, I hope it will be answered.
Actually I decided to buy new Huawei P30 Lite this month of June here in Philippines.
Is this still safe? Because I am thinking it might if it is not working cause of issues spreading about banning in some countries and I am worrying if after I bought my new phone here in Philippines it is not working in after a few months.
I am Filipino.
Dear Gio, Mari, and other readers who inquired about Huawei smartphones in the Philippines: ChannelE2E does not have first-hand information to share. This article from Rappler may provide some guidance to you. But please note that we are not affiliated with that publication, and we have not directly confirmed the details/opinions contained in that article.
-jp
Joe Panettieri: I hope you don’t believe in Santa Claus too! China’s Government involved in Huawei and espionage is written in the cover of any book!
@ Flo:
I suppose you could say the US spies on its own people (and they do), but that doesn’t absolve the fact that China is doing the same thing in a much more pervasive way. The US should stop doing this, and likewise for China. To be fair, I wouldn’t believe what either of those governments (US or China) says, because we all know it’s rigged and nothing more than a bunch of lies intended to sway our opinions to benefit them.
However, as you know, the Chinese government likes to constantly monitor the social media sites, and censorship is widely used (courtesy of the Great Firewall of China). For you to be living outside China, at least you could voice your opinions without either having it blocked off due to political reasons and/or maybe even hunted down by Communist-brainwashed police (China has a really spotty record when it comes to human rights and democracy). It gets worse when the Chinese government jumps over their own Firewall to spread pro-China and pro-Communist propaganda on Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and other websites that are inaccessible by their own people; so they’re basically breaking their own rules to extend their reach to try to influence people outside of China.
Let’s also not forget how China is treating the people in Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc, to the point where they want to leave China and their manipulative ways, but then China is making things even worse for them. In 2007, Beijing said it would not interfere with the 2017 elections in Hong Kong, but they broke their promise and that led to the Umbrella Revolution and other such protests. Of course, the Chinese government turns it around and censors the truth from their own people, then goes as far as to spreading fake news on the state-influenced TV (i.e., saying the 1 million protesters in front of the Legislative Council building are there to celebrate the national holiday… and people actually believe any of that). It’s a sad state of affairs when people are beaten, tortured, or even killed for expressing critical views of the government, kind of like 1984 becoming reality.
In any case, Huawei should be banned because it’s not conducive or helpful to the civilized, democratic world. Chinese companies are forced by the Chinese government to create backdoors or other means to facilitate the government in spying into the software or social media for the purpose of censorship and undermining peoples’ human rights. We cannot allow this to happen in our 1st world countries because we may as well be enabling the Communist regime in the furtherance of these violations on our own people.
Spain update: The country rolls out 5G network using Huawei gear.
Sources:
https://www.rt.com/business/461954-spain-5g-network-huawei/amp/
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/16/c_138146413.htm
BTW, all (supposed to be US-allies) Arabian gulf countries will use (and some of them already using) Huawei for their 5G networks, and the first is Kuwait which started (from yesterday, 15th of June) selling Huawei’s 5G CPE Pro router from all 3 operators (Ooredoo, Zain, VIVA). Qatar also offering the same Huawei device with all package plans starting from this week.
Not to mention Huawei won a contract with biggest Russian operator earlier. And Brasil expressed its willingness to cooperate with Huawei for 5G deployment, ignoring all US warnings.
Huawei clearly won the 5G race.
Banning the company in the US because of “spying” allegations will not cancel the contracts or the already deployed networks and won’t do any good for Americans themselves because less competition will harm the consumer eventually.
Evidence for Huawei engaging in espionage: 0
Evidence for American Gov spying using American companies: There is a whole wikipedia page about it thanks to NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden. These global surveillance partners include but not limited to Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, British Telecom, Verizon, Vodafone. Details here.
The NSA global surveillance is meant to avoid attacks such as the 9/11 tragedy.
Huawei stole the mobile technology from Motorola the inventor.
Huawei stoke the CISCO code and Hardware manufacturing.
https://www.prosperousamerica.org/top_five_cases_of_huawei_ip_theft_and_patent_infringement
It’s really baffling and abhorrent how the common people (e.g. here in the comments) would bow to and blindly accept what the propagandists are saying. You actually think Huawei phones have been inserted with backdoor? Ridiculous! That’s an excuse by the US for its own nationalistic ambitions. It’s clear they do not want a Chinese company to lead in 5G so they’re doing everything they can to prevent it from happening. Huawei is easily the leader of 5G development in the world, no other company is even near.
Lets not get confused between Huawei and Chinese government nor Apple or AT&T or Google and US government. Like it or not ALL GOVERNMENTS spy on their own and others outside their countries. Do not be naive to think the US or EU are any more innocent then China. Lets accept this and move on. Leave politics away from business!
“To the best of my knowledge, there are no smoking guns against Huawei in terms of back doors for China’s government.”
Huawei SW has been developped in a way that backdoors can be added afterwards by Huawei or other Chinese technicals. China wants to conquer the world and Huawei is under Chinese government so who will really trust Huawei and their words. Remember that China is not a western country or a democratic country. Do you really trust the admistration of China? Dont be naives.
“Like it or not ALL GOVERNMENTS spy on their own and others outside their countries. Do not be naive to think the US or EU are any more innocent then China. Lets accept this and move on. Leave politics away from business!”
Especially western countries dont want that China will spy them. China will not respect IPR at all. Chinese covernment pays Huaweis bills so Huawei is not a normal company. And Huawei is not a private company. China does not understand what private means.
There is a Huawei 5G network in China now, and look at how the Chinese Social Credit System works. If you say something bad about the government online, you are recorded, and your social credit system will be decreased. As a consequence of that, the person cannot buy a train or flight ticket. Some people are jailed for it. Huawei is providing information to the Chinese government in China right now, how to stop Huawei from providing information to the Chinese government in the future? It cannot be stopped. In China, if a company does not do what the government asks it to do, the company is dead. The director is dead. Do not listen to what Zhengfei Ren said, look at what he does, and how Huawei grew over the years. It is profoundly linked to the Chinese Government. Ban on Huawei is necessary to preserve modern democracy and rule of law. When there is a war between the West and China, will you think that Huawei would protect the information of the Western people they collected, and not send them to the Chinese government? Hell NO.
Just for your information, China uses a social credit system, controlling its citizens’ behavior and opinions. Every Chinese customer, buying a smartphone, needs to offer a picture of its face. That picture is used for face recognition so that all communication leaving the smartphone of that person is identified as coming from that person. The excuse that someone else used the phone and made a negative remark, is done and over with. Control of smartphones exists for some time.
When that person shares negative comments about the Chinese government and other Chinese authorities, the retribution may be a blocking of one’s internet connection or emptying that person’s bank account. The Chinese government has access to all bank accounts of its citizens and in that way, it has become “Big Brother watching you”
Besides, there’s been protests in the streets of cities where residents discovered streetlights where cameras and microphones record the conversation of phone calls of passers-by. That’s the smart LED lamp technology. Part of the 5G installation is a network of LED lamp technology, connecting the cell towers in your neighborhood. Beware of spying eyes!
If you are able to detect it as a end user. Then Huawei has failed in its product design!
True or not we never know. One thing for sure is Huawei is super attractive in term of price.
If you feel comfortable with Huawei, why not as it save lots of money.
Compro, at the cost of your privacy and health? You must live in a narrow bandwidth reality, I suppose.
This discussion isn’t about the cost of things or services, it’s about the reasons why many people are critical.
And that’s got nothing to do with the price. You’re very naive.
This is my response to what’s shared here earlier: “To the best of my knowledge, there are no smoking guns against Huawei in terms of back doors for China’s government.
-jp”
Please, keep in mind that Trojan horses aren’t supposed to be detected before they ‘re jumping into action.
It’s naive, to ask questions about where the proof can be found of spying activity, in the virtual world. Related to Huawei’s program and service. Of course, there’s no chance that this is found, it would destroy all that is intended by Huawei.
The answer to such a question, about evidence that spying is involved within Huawei’s system, can be found by looking into the measures China is taking, monitoring its population by smart technology. To me, it’s evident what the answer is.
Devon: Thanks for the healthy debate. Portions of the US government certainly share your concerns. We’ll continue to track worldwide perspectives on Huawei deployments and the associated security debate.
-jp
This is a bunch of rubbish, even the EU and many other countries say that the US presented no evidence. Believe what you will, but there are only the US and a couple other five eyes countries that has limited or banned Huawei altogether. Canada is a five eyes member and is currently sitting on a post contemplating whether to grow a spine to defy American demands.
Hi Joe: Thanks for the note. If you study our coverage in its entirety, I hope you’ll find that we’ve covered dozens of countries and their specific decisions on Huawei. We realize the U.S. is only one voice in far larger IT world.
-jp
Hi Joe,
What are your overall thoughts on huawei? Still no smoking gun?
Debating whether to keep my Huawei devices, although this may be different to 5g technology I know.
I’m not bothered if they see my nudes, just want to make the right decision for the world 😂
Thanks
Miles
Miles: On the device front, I think the U.S. trade ban limits Huawei’s ability to leverage Google services/Google apps. Details here. I’m not choosing sides, but I suspect those limitations (and others) will limit Huawei’s mobile device success in North America. Still, I’m not an expert on the topic. We’ve focused most of the blog above on government issues rather than device considerations.
-jp
Thanks Joe, galaxy s20 it is 👍🏻
Why do you think the Huawei products are priced so far below their western competitors? Subsidized. That is how they get a large uptake of their equipment into public hands to further their data collection efforts. People are too foolish to think beyond price. People download apps without reading what they are agreeing to all the time. How much facial recognition data has been collected by Tiktok just in the past 3 months? Now the Chinese are moving into space and satellite technology in a big way. Want to live under communist or totalitarian rule? Educate yourselves. Be aware, and be cautious. Spend your money carefully. The cheapest option is rarely the best option. There are consequences to everything you do.
Products from China are cheaper in general. Doesn’t mean they are all subsidized. Why do successful Chinese companies have to be demonized? More money means for success for China. What data are all those US apps collecting and why do they have to collect them? Tiktok is bad because it may be collecting the same data or because it is Chinese? I call it jealousy that a non-Western company like Huawei can actually be better than a Western company. Snowden already showed how much spying the US is doing. Remember the US spied on the German Chancellor so it is very hypocritical for the US to go around scaring other countries about being spied upon by China. What reason is there for the US to prevent non-US companies from selling products that contain US components to Huawei ? That has nothing to do with national security.
And for anyone to tie democracy and not using anything Chinese, that is just xenophobia propaganda and brainwashing. Western media is very anti-China and you have to try hard to find the truth. Has anyone even bothered to read the US national security laws and compared them to the national security law of China which includes Hong Kong? Spreading so many negative lies has given rise to so much hate crimes on all the Asian communities since Westerners cant tell Chinese from other east Asians.
I was going to post a comment but everything has been said. The bottom line seems to be that if the Chinese Government continues to conduct itself in the manner that it is with regard to its own citizens and those of Tibet, Hong Kong , Taiwan, the Uighurs not to mention the rest of the World, eventually no one will want its products.
I have a sense this is only the beginning and aggressive rhetoric is not going to help their cause. They have a lot of ground to make up if they want to rejoin the rest of civilisation.
Jake: Sounds like just your opinion since there is no facts. Lets see examples of US aggression. Iraq WMD lies to start a war. Providing Saudis with weapon to kill Yemen children. Aiding the Hong Kong rioters. Threatening to block Venezuela receiving Iran oil tankers and aide. Attempted murder of Venezuela president. The murder of Iranian general without a declaration of war. The list goes on and on. The US also loves sanctions. Nord stream 2 sanctions, sanctions on Canada, Europe, ICC judges, and anyone who disagrees with the US. Weaponizing the dollar to punish countries. Pretty soon you will have to find countries not sanctioned by the US. Use Canada to kidnap Chinese CFO but nothing to Enron, Sanders executives. Destroying the competition Alstom, Toshiba and now trying to do the same to leading Chinese companies. US police brutality everywhere. When the truth comes out, which you and the media try so hard to hide, it will be the US that will have to find a way to rejoin civilization. Bottom line is remember Pompeo’s saying: “We lie, we cheat, we steal.” So how can you trust the US. Don’t forget Snowden and Assange.
@Devon Seamoor thanks for your rational points and agree with you. Issue is more with Chinese Govt than organizations from China. They have to rely on authoritarian Communist regime. It is important to understand that till this date China has restricted its citizen from accessing global internet and platforms and created a controlled, monitored environment. Why?
If a Govt suspects and monitors so much on its own citizen then what it can do with other countries data keeping in mind that it has territorial and commercial aggression plan. It has territorial dispute with 24 countries and has defied rulings of UN over island belonging to Philippines. This will not be tolerated and it is matter of time before it will slowly garner more issues for not just Huawei rather more companies from China.
Those asking proof of snooping please understand at device level you can modify and much easily manipulate security footprints. Those mentioning Wikipedia, please understand Wiki is maintained by group of people and it has become a trend of locked article editable by a cult of operators with vested agenda. It is no more neutral.
This is great info. Thanks!
@Devon Global internet has so much hate on it and is totally anti-china. Would you want your children looking at BLM or anti-US lies or anything they want on the internet? Who are you to tell your neighbor if they want to restrict their family from certain websites? Long story short because it looks like my reply using similarities between BLM narrative and what US is doing to China was deleted. Remember Snowden and Assange on US spying so stop pointing finger at China. I have to remind you of Pompeo saying “we lie, we cheat, we steal”. And you trust what he says? If you don’t believe wikipedia, where do you get your info? Pompeo? Tell me which us media outlet has a “vested agenda” less than wiki. You can’t.
Real Facts, all readers: Yes, some comments in this thread have been deleted. The topic/focus of the article is where Huawei is banned and permitted. That said, we strive to keep the comment thread focused on that topic, and delete comments that go off topic. We also delete comments that we perceive to be shouting matches vs. other readers — rather than constructive dialog. But I want to emphasize: Constructive criticism delivered in a professional tone, on message with the story topic, remains welcome.
Joe Panettieri
[email protected]
EVP, After Nines Inc., ChannelE2E and MSSP Alert
@Joe Thanks for showing that censorship exists in the west too and there are posts that don’t even mention Huawei and are just China bashing. But here’s my take on Huawei. There is no evidence that it has any more security issues than any other company but is banned just on the false accusations that something “might” happen because they are Chinese. Can I as a business owner in the US ban a race because of my fear that they are more prone to violence? In this case you can search for violent crime statistics based on race, but no such information is shown for Huawei security issues. There is more evidence of US threats. That is the hypocrisy of those who say Huawei should be banned because it has to follow China rules. Same can be said about Microsoft, google, Boeing, and those who did not Enron, Goldman Sachs, lehman brothers. In short, the US is trying to make an enemy by increasing Sinophobia and engaging in economic war. Sounds familiar to what is shown is history books. The US wants “transparency” and so should be honest and admit they just want to destroy the competition and all options are on the table.
Real Facts: Thank you for raising your points and concerns in a professional manner. I do appreciate it. You also raise a point about some of the comments further above allegedly bashing China. I will give the thread(s) a closer look, and we will work hard to keep the comment areas informative rather than inflammatory. We’re not perfect. But we”ll always strive to make improvements.
-jp
I believe the real issue is war. The risk of war has increased, this is fact. If an enemy controls your communication network they can either spy on your operations or sabotage your networks. Both would be hugely advantageous in war. We must prepare for the worst as times have changed. I think it has very little to do with china spying on the everyday citizen.
What I don’t understand is why Chinese are so angry? Don’t they see they have been banning Western tech products and services for decades, actually almost twenty years of bans. Just look at the list in Wikipedia of the hundreds of websites and apps banned in China, many of them quite benign. Heck even Winnie the Pooh, a children’s character is banned. Doesn’t this seem like the result of a paranoid totalitarian government and if we turn the arguments around it looks like China has only been trying to stop the rise of the West for decades!!! Now we only playing the same game and they start complaining foul which seems hypocritical. They even ban the entire outside internet!!! 7 countries, possibly 9 and many more are going to ban Huawei. What’s the problem? Chinese supporters of Huawei say China doesn’t need us, that they are powerful and strong without the West, if that’s the case then why are they so hellbent on dictating to us, why they so worried about us, just let us go, you’ll be fine without us? Seems really one way. Remember thousands of Western tech companies are banned in China. Pot calling the kettle black anyone?
Excellent points. The ccp has always advocated it’s rights when it comes to national security. Their reasoning has always been they are protecting their soveriegnty from aggressive Western forces. However their recent actions do not match their rhetoric. They have broken international law in the south china sea and are threatening taiwan, an internationally reconigned country. This is not defensive but rather offensive. It is therefore entirely reasonable that some Western countries have raised their threat levels from “war is possible” to “war is likely”. It then is also entirely reasonable that infrastructure which is deemed as a national security such as telecommunications are protected. The ccp have done this. Why would we assume the West cannot do the same. It is not aggressive or racist. Simply preparing for a worst case sinario.
Get Huawei Technologies and you will see more cyber hacks happening all over the world. “No Spy” agreement lol means nothing to the Chinese government. They can replay the top people in Huawei Technologies at a heart beat.
@ Jeff Wong
Re: Heck even Winnie the Pooh, a children’s character is banned.
Are you talking out of your a**e? Since when did China ban Winnie the Pooh? Have you been to China? I was transiting at Shanghai Pudong Airport early last year and I bought a Winnie the Pooh soft toy for my young nephew.
One can only assume they dislike China and the Chinese and you seek to defame it at any opportunity.
Lol only show how much you travel. In some countries things are available in the Airport Duty free but not available to the public outside the airport. So is poor Winnie.
As if US is not spying on us…..
Takashi: I respect your point. The U.S. media (including me) needs to work harder to understand and report on alleged U.S. digital spying activities.
-jp
China only bans foreign products and services in China itself. US not only ban the sales of huawei in US, but also ready to sanction other countries who use huawei, which is ridiculous to say the least. Did China ban US products being used in OTHER countries?
What about Vatican City State? Is their server / network Huawei because Rome’s is? You should list Vatican under “V”, not just lump it in with Italy. You should also list if Huawei runs the networks of tiny principalities like Andorra and Monaco.
Vatican network was hacked by China recently to learn what their negotiating stance is on the up-and-coming renewal of the Vatican-China treaty (which China broke as soon as it was signed).
Hi Petrichor: You raise valid points in terms of Vatican City being independent of Italy. We’ll be updating our coverage accordingly.
-jp
Wonderful article thank you Joe. Sorry but in this day and age tech and politics go hand in hand and the very reason for this article.
It surprises me how naive some people are of Huawei and its connection to CCP.
You only need to see their surveillance state to monitor, restrict and incarcerate people for express their views. Not to mention the many cyberattacks, intellectual theft etc. CCP recently launched their own satellite system in case of a war with the US. China seeks to dominate the world by all news especially tech. Have you heard of unrestricted warfare? A company backed by a state with atrocious human rights record justify the US’ actions. In saying that, the chinese are capable and destined for great breakthroughs but are pegged by their authoritarian regime. In constrast Taiwan a free and prosperous tech hub punching above its weight.
Philemon: Thanks for your readership. We’ll continue to update the content since multiple countries and tech companies continue to weigh in on the Huawei debate. And to reiterate: Huawei has always insisted that it has done nothing wrong, and that the company is not a back-door provider to the Chinese government.
Best,
-jp
How many of you who are critical of China and CCP have been to China in the last 10 years? How many wars have China started or participated in in the last 30 years? How many countries have the US interfered with in the last 30 years? How many foreign military bases does the US has worldwide? How many countries have the US sanctioned? Please look in the mirror before accusing others.
Hi John Li: You raise important questions regarding the U.S. population’s collective knowledge (or lack of knowledge) regarding world events & geopolitical issues. We’re striving to keep this particular story and comment thread focused on Huawei, but the larger world view you mention certainly is important for all of us to keep in mind.
-jp
Too many lies in the comment about China’s security problems and civil rights problems.
Credit tracking system: you’ll be de credited due to: not paying the debt or violating the law including spreading rumors and lies. Your personal credit is not influencing by your opinions but some social media might delete your post like the way fb or Twitter do. So you can’t buy a train ticket because you talk against ccp? That is just a lie. Most people will ignore your opinions and move on, some people want to beat you but you can still find a few allies inside China who hate ccp or China.
HK Tibet Taiwan problem:
HK was the colony of UK and there’s still quite great influence of UK inside the island for example many judges are British canadian Australian etc. as well as mass media. Riots are sponsored by The US NGO (sponsored by US government) to play against the China. Well those poor haters made quite an awful noise but they are only riots. They’re nothing about pro-democracy because socialism is the true democracy, proved by Bernie Sanders and the beautiful play of Trump White House.
Tibet: The freaking Dalai Lama is a slavery owner who sacrificed virgin teen girls to his god, used baby skulls to make his religious instruments. So I assume you are a slavery supporter like the old white Americans do, no wonder.
Taiwan: Taiwan is not a country and no one is abusing them.
I don’t even think my post will be showed in this blog because it seems lies are preferable in the comment and whoever tries to break lies will be considered topic-irrelevant, while lies about China and ccp is totally relevant? And China wants to conquer the world? Really???
lol. When I look at some of China-haters’ comments, I am shocked and open my eyes. I thought those populists are those supporting cultural revolution in China in 1970s. You’d better update you knowledge and wash your brain before making jokes. China IS NOT the China in 1970s. If you keep that biased viewpoints, I am definitely sure that the west would have a very big problem very soon because your current points of view to China is as the same as how Chinese judged the west in Qing dynasty.
1. Social credit system: when you are laughing on the system, Chinese are also laughing you. Chinese are also laughing on how stupid you guys are on their social media because you populists even think it is real.
2. Taiwan: Taiwan is never and ever a country. If you look at either Constitution of Republic of China (Nickname:Taiwan) or Constitution of People’s Republic of China, Taiwan is just a province of China. There is a even a Government of Taiwan Province, administrated by Government of Republic of China. The lack of legal awareness just proves how naive you guys are. DO YOUR RESEARCH NEXT TIME.
The US Government has no authority to impose its views on the rest of the world, as US imperialism had caused a lot of pain and tragedy worldwide in not so distant past (Vietnam, Guatemala, El Salvador, etc.).
On the other hand, while not being an expert on the possibilities of the Chinese Government, via Huawei 5G networks, to spy on societies outside China, I believe that extreme caution is called for in view of the very alarming reports about the methods of the Chinese Government toward the Uighur society in its own country:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215
(‘Credible case’ China carrying out genocide; BBC, 8 Febr. 2021)
This whole anti-China tantrum has nothing to do with national security. It is just a cover story to neutralize any challenge to Western global domination. In late last century, the Western hysteria was aimed at Japan, now it is aimed at China.
To those who back China and its state ran company Huawei and think they don’t pose a threat to the security of the world then you are either not informed or in Chinas pocket running it’s propaganda. Everyone knows they are a authoritarian regime. Everyone knows they censor its population behind the their great fire wall. But you want to vouch for them??
Huawei not only has a shady history of stealing trade secrets over the past 20 years but in China’s constitution all companies are required to hand over information to the government if requested. Then there is a bit of common sense thinking and wonder how can a country go from not having any high tech to all of sudden have a world leading telecommunications company in such a short period of time? This can only come from cheating and stealing technology. It’s no secret that China has been a world leading culprit when it comes to hacking others countries, that’s a fact.
See below link for a summary of Huawei’s shady past.
https://medium.com/swlh/did-huawei-really-steal-16032a4c8eeb
You forgot to mention Edward Snowdens treasure trove of NSA’S documents detailing ILLEGAL hacks and surveillance of US Citizens by the US government….and spying on US allies by listening to private calls of EU leaders
Hi Brad: The topic of Edward Snowden and NSA activities is certainly important, but this particular blog is designed to help channel partners understand where they can (and potentially can’t) leverage Huawei equipment. Still, we certainly agree that the overall topic of nation-state hacking (including alleged activities by the U.S. government) is an important one.
-jp
Huawei has been around for a long time, and only now it’s threatening the big players they decided to do something about it. It’s obvious. If you think it’s all about security, you’re naive (or brainwashed) and you should be more concerned about the FBI who’s been PROVEN to spy on other governments, as well as on the US citizens.
Hi Fabio: Agreed. The media should also focus on alleged US government spying and hacking activities. But in terms of Huawei, the allegations against the company are not new. One example: Cisco filed suit against Huawei in 2003.
-jp
Network Equipment: I don’t know that anyone is suggesting that Huawei Equipment is currently exfiltrating information, it is that the Chinese Government can direct them to do so and Huawei, as a Chinese company must comply. That is to say, they do not have a choice if they are told to do so. US companies provide the US access for a fee when directed to by a judge and perhaps as they may be asked to provide data, they justify internally, the need to capture massive amounts of information in the first place.
The US vs China – The idea that the US is putting controls on Huawei to protect the US Equipment Market is ridiculous. America lost the network equipment business to the Europeans a long time ago. America still leads the way in the Data Center switches, but that is quickly becoming commoditized with only very high-speed switches (Juniper, Cisco, and a few others) remaining. Huawei does not begin to compete here.
Huawei Devices: I have used Huawei devices in the past, and have a few friends who absolutely love them, including a couple who are Security Engineers. If you are going to use one, in fact, if you are using any Android phone, download Redmorph from the Google Play Store and you will be able to see and block connections you do not like.
All mobile devices include system apps and they all collect information. Redmorph allows you to check systems apps and what permissions they have, and then block network access preventing them from downloading your data.
Philippines: If you are worried about the Chinese, it’s too late for you. You have 3 mobile operators. The legacy operators PLDT (Smart), and Globe are completely reliant on Huawei equipment, and the new operator is a Chinese company. How the Philippine Government has allowed this to happen after China built military bases on Philippine Atols, is anyone’s guess. Perhaps an audit of the lifestyles of your president and his associates is in order!
Joe L: Thank you for the multiple pieces of commentary. We continue to watch the situation closely, especially in terms of if/when/how U.S. service providers and government agencies are replacing existing Huawei installs.
-jp
“Huawei does not begin to compete here.”
If they do, then they can be sure they won’t ever be back in business LOL
The world is clearly polarised, guys. It’s all about politics. Don’t pretend you are just presenting facts. The West, in particular the USA, can claim anything. Let’s not forget the war crimes in Iraq in recent years.
A more contemporary example? Vaccines. Check which countries are not accepting vaccines from China, Russia and India. The vaccines have already followed the same procedures from other vaccines and have proven to work (just check what’s happening in Brazil for example). But.. politics.
I don’t trust China. But I honestly trust the USA even less. The wolf dressed as sheep is worse than the wolf that does not dresses up as sheep.
In this new age of technology one need to realize we all have digital footprints; what governments’ are doing is not illegal.
In fact the type & level of crimes have also evolved with technological advancements. There are more cyber crimes & criminals than ever before – most of you commenting here are oblivious, governments do not call it spying…it’s protectionism; they cannot adequately protect you otherwise. Problems arise when said information is in the wrong hands….this goes for some people in gov’t as well, because they use their position to cause harm…and gov’t gets blamed!
Governments are constantly trying to weed out bad players, but this is no easy task..
As for Huawei… the rest of the world have to be ensured access to data & profits distribution where no one feels disadvantaged. The world is fast becoming one unit…with many jurisdictions – Therefore crime can be effectively controlled…and much more!
The only truth, the US doesn’t want to lose the privilege in telecommunications. That is why the ban exists.