Huawei Dismisses Reports of US Probe as Fake News
Dou Shicong
(Yicai Global) April 19 — Huawei Technologies Co., China’s biggest smartphone maker, has denied speculation that it is in the United States’ firing line after that country took aim at ZTE Corp. this week with a seven-year ban on buying US technology.
A representative for Huawei called it fake news, state-owned online news agency The Paper reported. Huawei’s response comes amid speculation that the US Department of Commerce has subpoenaed the Shenzhen-based company, demanding it provide information of all exports to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Sudan over the past five years.
The news dates back to June 2016, when the New York Times reported that the DOC had sent a summons to Huawei to ensure it had not breached export restrictions, The Paper said. The DOC did not accuse the firm of breaking any laws, it added.
The report’s resurfacing may relate to the US Federal Communications Commission’s decision to forbid American mobile phone operators from buying any China-made telecoms equipment with federal subsidies, which was announced on April 17.
Another possible cause is the DOC’s recent export denial order against ZTE, China’s second-largest telecoms equipment maker. Under the order, ZTE and its agents “may not, directly or indirectly, participate in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, software or technology exported or to be exported from the United States that is subject to the [Export Administration Regulations], or in any other activity subject to the [EAR].”
The move could plunge ZTE into turmoil. Recent reports suggest that the ban will leave the company without the right to use Google Inc.’s Android operating system in its smartphones, and its chipset inventory could quickly deplete without American suppliers. They provide between 20 percent and 30 percent of its components. The firm only holds enough stock to see out a month at a time, according to its 2017 annual report.
Editor: James Boynton
