U.S. Urges Allies to Avoid Using Huawei Equipment, WSJ Says

The U.S. government is contacting allies to get them to persuade telecom companies in their countries to avoid using equipment from Huawei, according to Bloomberg, citing the Wall Street Journal report.

Officials from the U.S. have reached out to counterparts and executives in countries including Germany, Italy and Japan about perceived cybersecurity risks, the Journal said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The U.S. may boost aid for telecommunications development in countries that shun Huawei equipment, some of the people said.

Huawei has long been labeled a security risk by U.S. lawmakers because of alleged links to the Chinese government, in part because it was founded by former military engineer Ren Zhengfei. While the company has denied any inappropriate connections, it’s been banned in Australia from supplying fifth-generation wireless equipment, faced scrutiny in the U.K. and found itself largely shut out from the U.S. market.

Huawei said customers around the world choose its products because they trust the company. “Huawei is surprised by the behaviors of the US government detailed in the article,“ the company said in an email. “If a government’s behavior extends beyond its jurisdiction, such activity should not be encouraged.“

A number of major telecommunications companies directed more than 5 percent of their capital expenditure to Huawei. That includes Telecom Italia SpA and Japan’s NTT Docomo and KDDI. Huawei has been pouring billions into developing 5G technology and its potential to become the global leader in the space is said to be a reason why Trump blocked the biggest ever chip deal earlier this year.