Huawei and ZTE: U.S. Politicians Malign China for 'Selfish, Short-Term Political Gain' (China Daily, China)

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Huawei and ZTE: U.S. Politicians Malign China for 'Selfish, Short-Term Political Gain' (China Daily, People's Republic of China)

Are U.S. concerns about Chinese corporate espionage justified, or is this just an election year campaign ploy to score political points by appealing to misguided American voters? For the state-run China Daily, scholar Qi Li asserts that recent moves to restrict Chinese firms in the U.S. market and a Congressional report laying out why they cannot be trusted endangers relations and global economic recovery.

By Qi Li*

October 16, 2012

People’s Republic of China - China Daily – Original Article (English)

They blame Chinese companies for the loss of American jobs while opposing the Chinese investment that would create them.

The recent U.S. Congressional report on Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese telecommunications giants, once again drags innocent outside institutions into American domestic politics.

On October 8, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a report asserting that: "Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence, and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems." The report goes on to recommend that American regulators block U.S. mergers and acquisitions by Huawei and ZTE and that U.S. government systems not include components from the two firms, because they could pose an espionage risk.

Anyone with common sense would agree with the Huawei spokesman who called the accusations "dangerous political distractions" and that the accusations and recommendations in the report are unreasonable and without justification.

Accusations that the companies pose a security risk are based on the assertion that they cannot be free of state influence, a subjective judgment with no credible evidence to support it. Coming from a so-called intelligence panel, this is not at all intelligent, particularly since the U.S. government has publicly and repeatedly recognized China as a partner rather than an enemy. No company in the world can be entirely free of state influence, and included American firms. Does that make them security threats?

Many U.S. companies, such as Boeing and Motorola, maintain close links to the American government and operate in China, yet China's government has never called for these firms to be excluded from our market. As a matter of fact, Chinese authorities have done their utmost to facilitate their operations.

The two Chinese firms that are alleged to pose a security risk to the U.S. are now welcomed and respected partners in about 150 countries.

U.S. politicians have long made unfair and irresponsible accusations against China and Chinese companies, deliberately ignoring facts and behaving arrogantly and hypocritically. In a bid to deflect attention from their own economic culpability, they blame China's government and Chinese firms for the loss of American jobs, while at the same time, they oppose Chinese investment that would create them. They complain about trade imbalances yet they refuse to sell products that Chinese companies want to buy. They lecture others on free trade and government non-interference, while repeatedly doing the opposite themselves.

China is an emerging power, and some U.S. politicians fear that it may grow strong enough to challenge America's global supremacy. But should politicians take advantage of these misguided sentiments on the part of some Americans? Should they put mutually-beneficial Sino-U.S. economic relations at risk, damaging the global trade environment?

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U.S. politicians ought to know that their actions could backfire and damage American interests. A spokesman for Huawei warned that the Congressional report "recklessly threatens American jobs and innovation, and does nothing to protect national security." But perhaps U.S. politicians don't care. Perhaps all they are interested on is their own short-term political gain.

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The report states: "China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes." But those using malicious methods are U.S. politicians making baseless assertions for their own selfish purposes. This latest report comes in the final stretch of campaigning for the U.S. presidency. It is an election in which China has been scapegoated for America's economic woes, with both candidates trying to show that if elected, he would bash China the hardest. Both have without hesitation put partisan interests above the interests of the American nation and people.

Yet the two sides have much to gain from cooperating. And, in fact, the leaders and people of our countries are working hard to develop a constructive relationship, exploring ways to build a new kind of the state-to-state relationship that featured win-win results. But such an undertaking requires mutual respect, mutual accommodation and healthy competition. Unfortunately and regrettably, such a biased report undermines each of these.

*Qi Li is a Beijing-based scholar of international relations.

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