Huawei strikes back against US tyranny: China Daily editorial

The Chinese telecommunications company that has been in the crosshairs of Washington’s pressure campaign against China has filed a lawsuit against the US government.

It is a bold move by Huawei Technologies to challenge the legality of a ban on federal agencies buying the company’s products. However, since the US administration has used one scheme after another to strike a mortal blow against it, Huawei has been left with no choice but to fight back.

In a statement released on Thursday, the company said it has filed a complaint in a US district court in Texas — where its US headquarters are located — challenging a provision of the US National Defense Authorization Act that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment.

The company is challenging the provision, which was only signed into law by the US president last August, on the grounds the restrictions targeting it are “unconstitutional”, as they single it out for punishment without producing any evidence.

Desperate to ensure it has the world’s 5G networks in its hands, the current US administration has been hounding Huawei without respite. Most malevolently by persecuting Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was detained in Canada at the request of the US Justice Department.

Meng’s lawyer informed a Canadian court on Wednesday of his concerns that the allegations against her were politically motivated, citing the US president’s comments on the case.

But as well as this nasty expediency of targeting Meng, the US has also been pressing its allies to exclude Huawei from their national 5G networks and demanded their telecom companies shun Huawei products.

Needless to say, the road ahead for Huawei to win the case will be challenging and time-consuming. But given the US’ determination to victimize it, Huawei has no choice but to defend itself.

People around the world realize that Huawei is being scapegoated by the US. Already the US has faced difficulty in persuading others to jump on its anti-Huawei bandwagon.

Huawei may encounter difficulties and suffer lost business opportunities overseas for the time being. But if the US believes that it can continue to smear the company’s image worldwide like this without any blowback, it is kidding itself.

Such dishonest business practices, which contradict the principles that have allowed US companies and the US to thrive, will only backfire and tarnish the US’ own credibility.

Especially since the past — proven — activities of the National Security Agency give rise to suspicions that Washington has a nefarious endgame in mind.