Opinion | Never mind the coronavirus, Trump’s America is still going full throttle in its attacks on Huawei
- After two years of repeated accusations of espionage, no concrete evidence against Huawei has been produced
- The US obsession with Huawei can only be understood in light of its national security goals – it means to thwart China’s rise as a world power by means fair or foul
In a recent interview with Fox News, Mark Green, a Republican Congressman from Tennessee, claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping told French President Emmanuel Macron that China would supply a billion face masks to France if his country agreed to adopt Huawei’s 5G technology.
If you are wondering why a US politician is dragging Huawei into an allegation against China at a time when most people are worried about the Covid-19 pandemic, the reason is that the company has become a lock-on target of the US government.
Washington has in recent years regarded Huawei as one of the greatest national security threats. The US case against Huawei rests on its alleged risks to both individual privacy and national security: i nformation passing through the company’s equipment will be captured by so-called back doors and given to the Chinese Communist Party, the US alleges. Washington claims a Chinese law compels any Chinese firm to provide information to Beijing, but neglects to say the US itself has similar laws.
