My Take | Is US the world policeman or dirtiest cop?

Huawei is an important company in China. But is it that important it’s worth the US government expending so much effort and resources to prosecute a war on the telecoms giant with all means available, both fair and foul?

The latest has the US Justice Department helping a foreign company with what looks like legal extortion. For years, there have been legal claims and counterclaims between Huawei and Rui Oliveira, the CEO of a Portuguese tech company called Imaginew, over a smartphone camera design he claimed Huawei stole.

Most experts agree the claim has no merits. The two designs are vastly different. Oliveira’s has only a single, expandable zoom lens on one side. Huawei’s EnVizion 360 had lenses on both sides encased in a large convex device that is non-expandable.

Nonetheless, given the current political climate in Washington, officials from the department have decided to pursue the case by working with Oliveira, who is obviously unbiased. It’s blatant American lawfare: the use of law as an instrument of diplomacy or war.

In its rebuttal, the Chinese company foregoes the usual legal language in its own defence. Its anger and frustration are palpable.