Huawei sues US over product ban

Tech giant Huawei on Thursday opened a legal front in its counter-offensive against US warnings that it could aid Chinese intelligence services, filing a lawsuit to overturn a US law that bars federal agencies from buying its products.

Huawei said the case, filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, challenged what it called an unconstitutional 2019 defence bill that prevents government agencies from buying its equipment and services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The move may send a global signal that Huawei is willing to use all means, including national courts, to prevent exclusion from a race to the 5G market – the future of high-speed telecommunications.

“The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products,” Huawei’s rotating chair Guo Ping said.

“We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort.”

The company was seeking unspecified damages.

“The US government is sparing no effort to smear the company,” he said.

Guo also said the US government had hacked their servers and stolen e-mails and source code, without providing details.

Washington has long considered Huawei a potential threat due to the background of founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.

The concerns have escalated as Huawei has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers, alongside Samsung and Apple.

A law recently enacted by Beijing that obliges Chinese companies to aid the government on national security has added to the concerns.

Huawei’s lawsuit targets an unconstitutional exercise of executive and/or judicial power that deprived it of a fair hearing to rebut the allegations.

It also says the National Defence Authorisation Act violates a bill of attainder clause by singling out Huawei for punishment.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in Beijing that it was entirely legitimate and understandable for enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal means.

He said Beijing had issued an official protest against the defence bill’s negative content concerning China.

Washington has warned that Huawei systems could be manipulated by Beijing to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications, and is urging nations to shun the company in 5G networks.

Huawei is expected to play a key role in the coming rollout of ultra-fast 5G networks that will allow wide adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.

The firm has responded to the pressure with an aggressive public relations campaign in recent months, with Ren, its reclusive founder, denying the claims in several interviews.

This week, the company gave news organisations a tour of its production lines and facilities in southern Guangdong province.

The clash is heightened by ongoing US-China trade talks and the December arrest of Ren’s daughter, CFO Meng Wanzhou.

A Canadian court on Wednesday set a May 8 date for the start of Meng’s hearing into a US extradition request over charges that she and Huawei circumvented US sanctions against Iran.

Two Huawei affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecom group T-Mobile.

Two Canadians were subsequently detained in China in suspected retaliation over Meng’s arrest. Huawei officials said it had never received any request from Beijing to instal security “backdoors” in its equipment or to gather intelligence.

Chief legal officer Song Liuping acknowledged that Chinese laws may require Huawei to heed government requests for assistance but said it would only do so in matters such as terrorism or criminal activity.

Huawei officials have denied that the privately held company was owned or influenced by China’s government.