The US government has been putting numerous restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has garnered worldwide attention. Through the use of pressure, the Americans aim to force Huawei to make concessions in terms of technology, market and capital.
However, the world was left speechless when Huawei not only stood its ground but also announced that there are backup plans to reactivate all tech banned by the US. Also, Huawei retaliated to accusations of stealing intellectual property by demanding US$1 billion in royalties from American telecom operators.
A month after the US imposed “extreme pressure” on Huawei, a number of companies in the US have been dealt a hit. Their annual income and profit expectations were lowered and stock prices fell as well. One can say that Huawei has countered well to the adverse sanctions imposed by the US.
As the trade war between China and the US intensifies, Huawei is not the only company being pressured. Dajiang, a company specializing in drones, was also hit with “security concerns” and accusations of “stealing information.” Domestic government agencies and companies in the US were also ordered not to purchase products from Dajiang.
There are multiple factors behind Huawei’s composure. For one, it has 1,554 standard essential patents (SEPs) in the field of fifth-generations (5G) communications. Also, in 2004, after Motorola canceled a plan to acquire Huawei, according to the chief executive officer of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, the younger leaders in the company voted not to sell the company at all. To which Ren said, “Sooner or later we have to confront the US.” That means Huawei has been preparing for a confrontation with the Americans since 2004.
Huawei had prepared itself by assuming all advanced chips and technologies in the United States would become unusable and that it had to develop in any way possible. And because of this, Huawei has managed to maintain its composure in the face of pressure. When Qualcomm stopped providing chips, Huawei came up with Haisi; when Google stopped providing Android support, Huawei came up with Hongmeng OS; and when Samsung stopped providing screens, Huawei still had BOE. In addition, Huawei’s patents allow it to counter American companies and form a barrier that cannot be penetrated.
This article was first published on ATimesCN.com and was translated by Kamaran Malik.