The world is freaking out about Huawei
The Chinese telecom giant
Many countries are labelling it a national security risk.
Welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m Chris Chappell.
In December, at the US’s request,
Canada arrested the now infamous CFO of Huawei,
Meng Wanzhou.
Why?
Well, according to China’s ambassador to Canada,
white supremacy.
Ok, to be fair,
the ambassador said that the white supremacy
wasn’t about arresting Meng,
it was about arresting Meng and then complaining about
the Chinese regime arresting two Canadians.
Because if you respect the Canadian legal system
but don’t respect the Chinese legal system,
that’s definitely because you’re a white supremacist.
Or...maybe it’s because the Canadian legal system
looks like this:
While the Chinese legal system
looks like this:
Yeah, even the Chinese ambassador
would rather be arrested under the Canadian legal system
than the Chinese legal system.
He just can’t say that because he has to go back to China,
and...he doesn’t want to get arrested there.
Now, what’s been lost amid the diplomatic brouhaha
is the reason the US asked Canada
to extradite Meng Wanzhou in the first place:
that Meng and Huawei had tricked banks
into violating US sanctions on Iran
by using shell companies owned by Huawei
to secretly do business in Iran.
So when banks handled Huawei’s financial transactions,
they were accidentally doing business with Iran, too.
And after Meng’s arrest,
even more evidence has been found
tying Huawei to these companies.
Now countries around the world have known for years
about some of the sketchy dealings of Huawei.
Not the least of which are shady connections
to the Chinese Communist Party
and potential national security concerns.
But Huawei is also the world’s
largest telecommunications company,
which makes closing the door on Huawei
a little challenging when financial interest is on the line.
So here are how 8 different countries have dealt with Huawei.
Number 8
India
After the arrest of Huawei’s CFO,
India’s telecom export body requested
a ban on Huawei products for government services,
citing national security concerns.
But India’s telecom minister said the government
would not look into a ban.
I mean, you can’t ban a company
that could be building your country’s 5G network, right?!
Huawei will be one of several companies participating
in trials to secure permission to build India’s 5G network.
Don’t worry,
an Indian official said they would put
all the necessary safeguards in place
before allowing access to core networks.
So India’s stance?
Officials are concerned about Huawei.
But the have no plans to block Huawei from government use,
or from their 5G network
Number 7
Germany
Germany’s technology watch dog
doesn’t think Huawei is a threat.
In fact,
all three of Germany’s major telecom companies
use Huawei equipment.
Later this year,
Germany will also be auctioning off contracts
to build its 5G network.
And Huawei wants to play a major role.
Nevertheless, some German officials have launched
a last ditch bid to convince the government
to ban Huawei from the 5G market.
But for now, the German government as a whole
is happy to have Huawei everywhere.
Number 6
France
When it comes to the war for 5G networks,
France has not surrendered.
According to Bloomberg,
France is considering targeting Huawei as a security concern.
France is also looking to build 5G networks.
And it’s moving to make parts of its telecoms infrastructure
inaccessible to Huawei.
“France’s largest telecoms operator, Orange,
won’t use Huawei equipment in its 5G network.”
Other major telecoms have said they’ll look into similar moves.
But as of now France has no internal government ban on Huawei.
Number 5
Japan
The nation that brought us Gundams
has decided it doesn’t need Huawei,
at least as far as government contracts go,
because of security risks.
The new Japanese guidelines don’t specifically mention Huawei,
but are designed to prevent leaks of sensitive information.
The guidelines cover,
“purchases of personal computers,
servers and telecommunications equipment
by the government and Self-Defense Forces
over concerns that viruses embedded in the equipment
could cause systems to fail or could leak sensitive information,
including military operations, to China.”
Japan’s telecom carriers are also saying no to Huawei.
So Huawei is not getting a lot of love in Japan.
Number 4
The United Kingdom
Huawei is also interested in the UK’s 5G network.
And a few days after Meng Wanzhou’s arrest,
Huawei agreed to address
the British government’s security concerns.
However, a major British telecom company,
BT Group,
said it won’t use Huawei equipment for its core 5G network
and has also begun removing Huawei equipment from its 4G network.
MI6—British intelligence—
has singled out Huawei as a potential security risk.
But officially, Huawei is not banned
for government officials or 5G networks.
Number 3
New Zealand
Just days before Meng’s arrest,
New Zealand banned Huawei from the nation’s 5G network,
citing “significant national security risks.”
New Zealand’s intelligence agency
also rejected a proposal from Spark,
one of the country’s biggest telecom carriers,
to use Huawei gear in its 5G network.
Given that the Chinese regime is influencing New Zealand
‘at every level of society’,
It’s pretty impressive that New Zealand
is coming out strong against the use of Huawei.
Number 2
Australia
Australia is also very concerned.
Back in August,
Australia banned Huawei
and another major Chinese telecom company, ZTE,
from building its 5G network.
The initial statement targeted firms
“who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions
from a foreign government,”
but did not mention Huawei or ZTE by name.
I mean, it could be about any company, amirite?
Except that it’s pretty obvious,
and also an Australian government official told Reuters
that it was in fact targeted at Huawei and ZTE.
So Australia, also coming out strong.
Number 1
The United States
Amurica has always been number 1.
Especially when it comes to raising concerns over Huawei.
In fact, this whole case with Meng Wanzhou
came out of investigations into Huawei leadership
that the US government began way back in 2010.
And during those investigations
“F.B.I. agents grew concerned that company officers
were working on behalf of the Chinese government.”
Meanwhile US lawmakers have been calling Huawei
a security risk since at least 2012.
And laws restricting Huawei
from equipping government agencies
began in 2013.
Last year “six major U.S. intelligence heads—
including the FBI, CIA, and NSA—
warned Americans against using
products and services from Huawei.”
And the US has been pushing other countries to follow its lead.
And more of Huawei’s shady dealings are coming to light,
like Poland arresting a Huawei executive
for spying right before we recorded this episode.
And more and more countries are beginning to pay attention.
So America:
We’re number 1...
at blocking Huawei.
So what do you think about Huawei?
Should it be banned or allowed in your country?
And are you watching this on your Huawei phone?
Leave your comments below.
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But before you go.
Now it's the time when I answer a question
from a fan who makes China Uncensored possible
by contributing through the crowd funding website Patreon.
William Adderholdt asks,
“I was surprised to read in the newspapers
that the Chinese government forcibly suppressed observations
by Marxist student groups of Mao's December 26 birthday.
What is the government's official position on Marxism and Mao,
and what is their actual position?”
Haha, that’s a good question.
In case you don’t know,
November saw a pretty big crackdown
on student Marxist groups in major cities throughout China.
Now officially, the Chinese Communist Party
loves and venerates Marx and Mao and Lenin
and all the other greats of Communism.
Except for Stalin.
It’s because of the mustache.
What is the Party’s actual position on Marxism?
I would say that it’s not that different
from their official position.
But the crackdown over the student Marxist groups
isn’t over who believes in communism more,
the state or the students.
It’s over the fact that only the Chinese Communist Party
is allowed to control communism in China.
If you’re going to protest in China,
doing it in the name of Marxism won’t protect you,
because you’re organizing outside of the party-state.
In the end, communism was never about creating
a better, more equal world.
That was just a facade to convince the masses
to overthrow the elite,
and ultimately give power to a small group of
what turned out to be incredibly bad people.
Every country that implemented communism
quickly became a brutal authoritarian state.
So remember, the only people in communist China
who can talk about overthrowing the elite are...
the communist elite.
Thanks for the question William.
And if you’d to have a shot at getting
your question answered on the show,
sign up to become a member of the China Uncensored 50-cent army
by supporting the show with a dollar or more per episode
through the crowd funding website Patreon.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.