Huawei Slams US for Trade Protectionism

In press conference discussing their 2012 performance on Monday, which was part of the company’s efforts to be more transparent to lawmakers, Huawei’s CFO, Cathy Meng, expressed frustration about the recent wave of security concerns being expressed by lawmakers in Washington.

According to the Associated Press, Meng said that Americans are paying twice the amount that Europeans do for third and fourth generation mobile services, and blamed impediments to competition as the major source for this problem.  

Last October, a report by the House Intelligence Committee said that China’s two largest telecommunications firms, Huawei and ZTE, pose a security threat to the United States and should be barred from US contracts and acquisitions.

“Based on available classified and unclassified information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems,” the draft copy of the report leaked to the press said.  

Needless to say, Huawei was not happy about those claims and responded with a lengthy rebuttal. Officials in Beijing responded by calling for lawmakers to set aside their prejudice, and judge Huawei fairly. 

During Monday’s press conference, Meng mirrored those earlier sentiments.

“These measures using trade protectionism to interfere with free competition will ultimately harm the benefits of end users and consumers,” Meng said. “As we continue to invest in this industry and work with our customers, our customers and markets generally see the value we create for them.”

Monday’s progress report is part of an effort by the privately held Huawei to become more transparent. One of the main concerns from Washington is that the PLA has a controlling interest in the company, an allegation that has yet to be proven conclusively.