TECH

US threatens to punish allies if they purchase 5G spy equipment from Huawei

Earlier this year, the US Commerce Department designated Huawei to an entity list which bars all American corporations from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese giant. The designation was entitled over allegations that the devices sold by Huawei have backdoors that could be used by the Chinese government and this fact poses a national security threat to the USA.
Not only has the Trump administration barred Huawei from selling networking equipment and other products in the US, it has also been warning allies not to purchase from the Chinese corporation.
A couple of days after imposing the trade ban, the US government gave a 90 day window to Huawei which it could use to purchase new equipment from American companies and setup servers which would allow its existing users to continue using the company’s services.
When the first 90-day window expired, the U.S. Commerce Department allowed a similar 90-day window which will shut in the month of November and will most likely stay closed forever.
According to a latest Bloomberg report, Rob Strayer, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy has threatened that the US could cut-off intelligence-sharing agreements or otherwise punish its allies in some way if they purchase 5G networking equipment from Huawei.
The European Union is expected to release an assessment report next month which would include security risks that implementation of 5G networks could pose. Subsequently, members of the European Union will have to get the networking equipment to be certified as secure before they are purchased and put to use in that country.
However, this could lead to disputes as some European Union countries, Hungary, in particular, considers Huawei as a strategic partner and important supplier of equipment for the next generation of telecommunication, 5G.
While the US seems to have a firm stance against Huawei and its offerings, a senior executive of the Chinese corporation does not believe likewise.
At the launch of the Huawei Mate 30 lineup, which took place on the 19th of September, Huawei’s consumer group chief, Richard Yu said once the US ban is lifted, the company can push an OTA update to its device which will equip them with Google Play services that they currently lack.
Even though Huawei might seem optimistic about the US situation, the Trump administration is leaving no stone unturned to make sure the former is unable to emerge as a leader of 5G equipment supplier.
Not much can be said about the whole scenario, and only time will tell what the future beholds for Huawei.

by Sahil