Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It provides telecommunications equipment and sells consumer electronics like smartphones. The company was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former Deputy Regimental Chief in the People’s Liberation Army.
Huawei’s Better World Summit
The Chinese telecommunications equipment maker’s three-day online event will focus on how technology can be used in the fight against COVID-19 and to revive business activity. The summit, featuring keynote talks by executives including rotating Chairman Guo Ping, could also shed light on the company’s carrier business development and business outlook.
Meanwhile, a court in Vancouver will open a hearing into what evidence should be made public in proceedings on whether to extradite Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou to the U.S. to face charges of bank fraud and other allegations.
The “Better World Summit” will also explore how to boost the world economy in the wake of the pandemic.
Also, HSBC has issued a statement defending its cooperation with the US in a case against Huawei. It came after Chinese state media accused the London-headquartered bank of “setting traps to ensnare” Huawei.
The world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker said the summit will feature talks by technology industry executives and experts from around the world, including Huawei’s deputy chairman Guo Ping as well as South Africa’s telecoms minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
Huawei Vs Rest of the World
The event is being held against the backdrop of growing pressure on the company as tensions rise between Beijing and western governments. Although successful internationally, Huawei has faced difficulties in some markets, due to claims of undue state support, links to the People’s Liberation Army, and cybersecurity concerns—primarily from the United States government—that Huawei’s infrastructure equipment may enable surveillance by the Chinese government.With the development of 5G wireless networks, there have been calls from the U.S. to prevent the use of products by Huawei or fellow Chinese telecommunications company ZTE by the U.S. and its allies. Huawei has argued that its products posed “no greater cybersecurity risk” than those of any other vendor and that there is no evidence of the U.S. espionage claims. Questions regarding Huawei’s ownership and control as well as concerns regarding the extent of state support also remain.
On Friday, an article in China’s official People’s Daily newspaper said HSBC had “framed” Huawei and played a role in the arrest of the company’s finance chief Meng Wanzhou.
The following day, HSBC posted a statement on the Chinese social media platform WeChat which said it was not involved in Washington’s decision to investigate Huawei or arrest Ms Meng.
It also said “HSBC has no malice against Huawei, nor has it ‘framed’ Huawei”. In response, another Beijing-controlled newspaper, The Global Times, said: “Chinese observers called HSBC’s statement ‘not persuasive’ at all”.
Meanwhile, the US has been calling on members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance – which also includes the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – to avoid Huawei kit.
Australia has barred Huawei from providing 5G technology for the country’s network.
Earlier this month, the British government banned the country’s mobile providers from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after the end of this year.
The companies were also told they must remove all of the Chinese firm’s 5G kit from their networks by 2027.
It follows sanctions imposed by the US government, which claims Huawei poses a national security threat – something the company denies.
As early as this week a court in Canada will open a hearing into what evidence should be made public in proceedings on whether to extradite Ms Meng to America.
Huawei has also been accused of assisting in the surveillance and mass detention of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang re-education camps, which have resulted in sanctions by the United States Department of State.
In the midst of an ongoing trade war between China and the United States, Huawei was restricted from doing commerce with U.S. companies due to alleged previous willful violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. On 29 June 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump reached an agreement to resume trade talks with China and announced that he would ease the aforementioned sanctions on Huawei. Huawei cut 600 jobs at its Santa Clara research center in June, and in December 2019 founder Ren Zhengfei said it was moving the center to Canada because the restrictions would block them from interacting with US employees.
Also Read : News Highlights From July 2020
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.