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Opinion | Huawei’s troubles show why China’s tech titans will struggle to go global

  • If Beijing is serious about becoming a global tech power, then innovation is not enough; it needs real rule of law. Chinese companies will be treated fairly abroad only if China’s legal system evolves

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Illustration: Stephen Case

Huawei has steadily emerged as a 5G pioneer, showing how a Chinese company can become a global heavyweight. Yet it has also become a different kind of pioneer: the first victim of a foreign blockade of Chinese technology companies, which could upend Beijing’s plans to become a global tech leader.

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The argument underpinning the campaign against Huawei is that, because of China’s political and legal systems in which the Communist Party has absolute control, no company is truly independent and every company can become a tool of the party. As William Evanina, the director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Centre, said: “Huawei … is not the problem; it’s the Communist Party of China.”

Huawei is just the first Chinese company that is strong and innovative enough to set off alarm bells in Western capitals. But it is becoming clear that it is not alone.

When the financial arm of Alibaba (which owns the South China Morning Post) wanted to acquire MoneyGram, it was blocked because of perceived risks to Americans’ personal data. The issue of personal data is also haunting TikTok, China’s first social media platform with global appeal, and the US government is mulling whether to ban it.

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Pompeo says US considering ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps, praises Google, Facebook, Twitter

Pompeo says US considering ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps, praises Google, Facebook, Twitter
Meanwhile, the US Department of the Interior has grounded its DJI drones. And China’s artificial intelligence crown jewels, from SenseTime to Megvii, have joined Huawei on Washington’s entities list. Even trains from Chinese state-owned companies have not escaped, even if they are assembled in US factories.
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