Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is still under attack from the Trump administration, who took a step further towards its feud with China. The New York Times reported that the government implemented a policy where government agencies are restricted from entering into further agreements with Huawei. The prohibition was invoked as part of the broader defense bill, which went into law last year.
The law covered "direct purchases" of video surveillance equipment, the services that went into it, and telecom gear. It also covered other Chinese companies which have been deemed a "security risk" by the government. This included the telecoms equipment manufacturer ZTE and Hikvision, a company that dealt with developing facial-recognition technology.
Huawei was the focus of the White House's attention. It doesn't help that it's the largest telecom company in China, and has also been used as a "bargaining chip" as the Trump administration continued their "tantrums." Huawei, on the other hand, said that this prohibition was "expected" as it was part of the defense bill. The Chinese company explained that it would continue to challenge this ban in a court of law.
Beijing answered back, saying that the US rules that banned local company Huawei from deals with the government were an "abuse of state power,"
The Express Tribune reported. This rule appears to be added into the law under behest from Washington. The government, for their part, argued that the company was a part of Chinese intelligence.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the United States deliberately used its state power to "throw mud" and keep Chinese enterprises from entering a potentially profitable market. The spokesperson added that these efforts serve to damage the image of the United States more than it destroyed the image of China.
Huawei emerged last year as the second-largest smartphone producer, moving past the US' Apple and just behind South Korean company Samsung. It is also the largest exporter of telecom networking equipment. The US has since turned the company into a "bargaining chip" in the war of trade between the two countries. The company has also denied being a "direct" agent of the Chinese government, which the Trump administration firmly believed it to be.
Trump is using this exclusion as a bargaining chip. Trump eased up on Huawei after the G20 summit in Japan, where he said American companies can sell technology to Huawei. This came after China agreed to purchase more farm products from the US.
