“There’s a scepticism of whether the US arguments about the nefarious nature of Huawei and its connections to the Chinese government are actually valid,” Harding said. “And there’s a frustration the US government isn’t bringing a viable alternative to the table.”

So far, no country in the region has banned Huawei devices. All but one are still planning to use the company’s technology for 5G, the next-generation wireless network seen as crucial to driverless cars, digital medical services, smart cities and other innovations.

Analysts say such countries are reluctant to exclude Huawei – whose products are considered equal to or better than those of Western rivals such as Nokia and Ericsson, and often 20 per cent to 30 per cent cheaper – if it means falling behind in the 5G race.

“Huawei has established its reputation for value-for-money networking equipment and that is highly attractive to developing and growth markets,” said John Ure, director of the Telecommunications Research Project at the University of Hong Kong.

Cambodia is among the countries that have signed agreements with Huawei and rivals to develop 5G networks.

At the Shangri-La gathering this month, US officials warned defence leaders that they would stop sharing information with countries that used Huawei for 5G.

Andrea L. Thompson, the top State Department official for international security affairs, said that persuading countries to boycott the Chinese company, “like any diplomatic effort, takes time”.

“If you want to expose your network to be a dirty network, there’s a price to pay with that,” she said.

Huawei’s involvement in the Philippines began in 2010, under a previous government, with a US$700 million deal to modernise domestic telecom giant Globe’s network. Globe officials have said they believe security concerns about Huawei are overblown and are continuing plans to roll out 5G service using Huawei equipment this year.

“Huawei remains an important partner,” said Globe spokeswoman Maria Yolanda Crisanto.

Some in the Philippine military establishment “share US concerns about Huawei, but for now they are giving the administration the benefit of the doubt,” said one senior security official, who requested anonymity to avoid being seen as criticising the president.

Still, the decision over Huawei represents a challenge to Duterte’s bid to balance his relationships with China and the US.

“Duterte is trying to maintain the political status quo,” said Jake Saunders, a Singapore-based analyst for ABI Research. “America’s economic and political connections go back multiple decades, but China has got a lot of money. That duality is putting a lot of friction on [the decision over Huawei].”

Huawei is also playing a major role in the Philippine strongman’s anti-crime push.

In a second-storey office across the street from the Philippine headquarters of Unilever, security officers watch a wall of television screens showing images beamed wirelessly from closed-circuit Huawei cameras.

If there’s a road accident, traffic wardens are alerted to reroute vehicles. Crime is virtually nonexistent.

Huawei’s corporate website touts the development as “a model of pristine city planning”. Developers hope 5G networking will allow for further advances such as facial and vehicle recognition.

“The dream is to become a truly smart city, but 5G is one of the bottlenecks,” said Sean Luarca, a spokeswoman for the development authority. What’s happening to Huawei, she added, “is unfortunate, because their products have served their function well. We trust them until proven otherwise.”

Duterte’s government has also announced a US$397 million deal with a Chinese state-run company for a project called Safe Philippines, which will install more than 10,000 high-definition security cameras across Manila and in the city of Davao, the president’s hometown. Federal officials say the surveillance system will help reduce crime and improve police response times.

Analysts expect that some equipment will be supplied by Huawei. Officials in charge of the project said sensitive data would not be stored and the system would include “the necessary firewalls to protect the system from hackers and other threats”.

In an interview, Diosdado T. Valeroso, a senior official in the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said authorities were “very confident” about being able to protect data no matter which company supplied the technology.

“[Huawei] is big, it has a big market share, and anyone can go to them and buy the equipment they need,” Valeroso said. “We welcome the contractor using any brand they want, as long as it conforms with our specifications.”

“Security is one of the foremost considerations not to rely on Huawei,” said Le Hong Hiep, an expert on Vietnam at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “Secondly, Vietnam desires to be self-reliant in the long term in technology and that’s particularly true of 5G.”

Huawei’s rivals haven’t given up on the region. Nokia of Finland has signed agreements to run 5G trials in Thailand and Malaysia, as well as in the Philippines, where it reached a deal with the country’s biggest telecom operator, PLDT.

“The obvious conclusion is to take the security issue with a pinch of salt,” said Ure, of the University of Hong Kong, who added that most countries’ economic ties with China could prove more potent than fading US leverage. “China is the elephant in the room, while the US sends out too many mixed signals.”

Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook