Huawei to file lawsuit against US govt

Chinese telecom company Huawei seems to undeterred by US regulations, and fight the Trump government head-on. The embattled Chinese tech company intends to file a lawsuit against the American government over a law that bans US federal agencies from buying Huawei products, many newspapers reported.  

The reports say, Huawei will claim in the lawsuit that the National Defense Authorization Act violates the US Constitution by singling out a single individual or group for punishment without trial. The legislation, which was passed in August, specifically forbids government agencies from using technology from Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE. 

It’s the latest twist in the clash between the US and China over technology. 

The Chinese company continues to deny the claims by the US government saying that Huawei’s products could be used by Chinese intelligence services for spying. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said in January that the company would never harm its customers.

Washington has been leading an international campaign to pressure US allies to ban the Chinese company from their 5G networks.

In a speech in Europe last month, US Vice President Mike Pence said his country had been “very clear” on the threat posed by Huawei. “We must protect our critical telecom infrastructure, and the United States is calling on all our security partners to be vigilant and to reject any enterprise that would compromise the integrity of our communications technology or national security systems,” he said.

Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was detained in Vancouver in December. Canadian police arrested Meng at the request of US authorities, who have charged her and Huawei with evading sanctions on Iran and bank fraud. Huawei and Meng deny the charges.

In retaliation, Chinese authorities detained two Canadians on suspicion of activities that endangered China’s national security and sentenced another to death for drug trafficking.