The brutal policy of the United States to split from Huawei could backfire, making the Chinese telecommunications giant even stronger in the long run.
Why is it important: The great decoupling of American and Chinese technology in the midst of commercial tensions and cybersecurity problems, of which Huawei is at the center, pushes Chinese companies to become more and more autonomous. Huawei’s progress could allow it to take the lead in the global technology race between the United States and China, experts said.
“We could end up losing ground to global Chinese companies if the United States increasingly closed access to its technology sector, isolating itself from where innovation occurs in the world,” says Samm Sacks, expert in China and cybersecurity at New America.
Driving the news: Commerce department has banned US companies from selling Huawei computer chips that are essential to building base stations for its new 5G wireless networks – but the Chinese company is learning to live with the ban, told Yahoo Yahoo Danks, an American executive from Huawei. Finance.
- By Danks, Huawei sold 50,000 base stations that contain no U.S.-made technology in the fourth quarter of 2019.
- Huawei still wants to return to the use of American technology, Danks told Yahoo Finance.
- And, in the short term, the ban also hurts U.S. companies that supply chips to Huawei. “Although it had an impact on Huawei and no one can say that it didn’t affect us to some extent … it hurts Americans more than it does today,” Danks told Ina Fried from Axios at the RSA conference last month.
Yes, but: China had already embarked on a transition to technological independence long before the U.S. ban on Huawei, developing expertise in chips and software to become less dependent on the West, and the United States in particular.
The big picture: As Huawei continues to develop networks, even without U.S. chips, it is advancing all over the world – and bringing Beijing’s vision for the Internet with it. “We can blacklist and compartmentalize companies in this country, but they will continue to gain ground in the European and Asian markets,” said Sacks.
- The UK has agreed to let Huawei build part of its 5G network, despite calls from the United States against it. Switzerland also welcomed the Chinese giant.
- These are just two of the many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and beyond that have partnered with Huawei.
What to watch: U.S. companies are making headway in 5G, but have yet to provide the world with a compelling alternative to Huawei, says Sacks. Its main competitors in the 5G market are Ericsson and Nokia.
However, China did not get a definitive lead, Jim Lewis, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Wednesday during a Senate hearing.
- “The United States is well positioned to take advantage of 5G technology, as it has done with 4G,” said Lewis. “The difference this time is that we have real competition, a competitor with good resources, a solid technological workforce and a long record of unscrupulous behavior.”
- But to beat Huawei, America must do more than cut the U.S. tech company and urge its allies to reject it, says Sacks. “If we take this purely defensive stance, I don’t see how we are progressing.”
