Huawei spying betrays blatant US hypocrisy

BEIJING - Just as a Chinese saying tells of a thief who yells "Stop the thief!", the United States made a complete fool of itself through years of spying on Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

The New York Times and Germany's Der Spiegel reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) had tapped Huawei's email archive, communications between top company officials, and even the secret source code of some of its products.

The irony lies in that Huawei is the very company that the United States has denied access to its domestic market for years, claiming that Huawei is a spy for China and a threat to US national security, even though prolonged investigations and hearings have yielded no evidence to substantiate the claims.

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Almost invariably, the United States has played victim to cyber attacks while blaming China and Chinese enterprises as attackers. The latest scandal shows Washington's hypocrisy, double standards, and its true face - it might as well be the biggest hacker in the world.

The United States is being continually exposed for infiltrating global companies including Google, Apple and Cisco for intelligence.

China's Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern and demanded the United States explain itself and stop such acts, after news reports of the NSA spying on Huawei, former Chinese leaders, ministries and banks.

The explanation provided thus far is a far cry from trustworthy. The hackneyed old tune is being played anew: national security interests. Such cliches are hardly convincing, instead, they are causing more doubts and questions about the real motive.

Was the NSA trying to impeding Huawei's growth as a global telecom powerhouse? Even though the US government claim the information it collected will not be passed to Huawei's rivals, there are no grounds for believing them. Also, it remains to be seen whether reports of Huawei being spied upon will affect its reputation and business globally.

The spying also tried to establish whether the company has any links with China's military. Was Huawei a sort of "spring board" to other nations that use the company's products? The stealth of the United States is stirring global concerns over cyber security, but at the same time, explicitly exposing the United States' hypocrisy.

The high moral ground from where the United States taunts the rest of the world will crumble beneath its feet, if it fails to convince others it practices what it preaches.

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