The 6 reasons why Huawei gives the US and its allies security nightmares

Found on Technology Review on Monday, 31 December 2018
Browse Hardware

The detention in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO and the daughter of its founder, is further inflaming tensions between the US and China. Her arrest is linked to a US extradition request.

Behind this very public drama is a long-running, behind-the-scenes one centered on Western intelligence agencies’ fears that Huawei poses a significant threat to global security.

In its defense, Huawei can point to the fact that no security researchers have found back doors in its products. “There’s all this concern, but there’s never been a smoking gun,” says Paul Triolo of the Eurasia Group.

The US and Europe are at fault for the problem, so they cannot complain at all. Over the past decades, more and more production has been outsourced to China because it was cheaper there thanks to non-existing protection of workers. At the same time, these industry sectors have been rooted out on the homelands. It's been obvious from the beginning, but greed and "free market" ignore common sense in favor of money.