After United States Takes On China’s ZTE, Huawei Says It’s Backing Off

After the United States and United Kingdom independently targeted Chinese telecommunications manufacturer ZTE Corporation, over cyber-security concerns, Huawei – the world’s largest telecom equipment provider – has said that it would focus on its existing customers rather than chase after newer ones in the United States, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Citing Huawei’s potential domination of next generation 5G devices, the United States has called the Chinese manufacturer a threat to national security. Similar reasoning saw the US block Qualcomm’s takeover by Singapore-based Broadcom. Huwaei on its part denied that its products carried any security threat but has not been secure a deal with any American carrier.

Amid the ongoing trade war between China, the tech sector has been severely hit due to what the Donald Trump administration calls China’s unfair policies towards foreign firms. China requires that American cloud computing providers such as Amazon or Microsoft, partner with a local firm in China and also licence the technology to them. Jack Ma-led Alibaba Group has three data centres in the United states, two in Silicon Valley and one in Virginia with most of them serving Chinese startups.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the United States’ protectionist policies were “typical of unilateralism and economic hegemony” and that China will be prepared to launch countermeasures.