The Sun (Malaysia)

Huawei loses lawsuit over US purchase ban

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HOUSTON: Washington has the right to block US federal agencies from buying products by Huawei on cybersecur­ity grounds, a judge has ruled, dismissing the Chinese telecom giant’s legal challenge to a purchase ban.

Huawei filed the suit nearly a year ago, claiming that Congress had failed to provide evidence to support a law that stopped government agencies from buying its equipment, services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The dispute was one of several fronts in a bruising trade war between Beijing and Washington, which has accused the tech firm of stealing trade secrets from American companies and warned allies that its equipment could be used to spy on other countries.

Huawei has denied the claims and accused the US of trying to put the company out of business through an “unconstitu­tional”

restrictio­n on its access to the American market.

But Tuesday’s court ruling in the United States found there was no constituti­onally guaranteed right to a contract with the federal government.

The ban was also justified in the context of a congressio­nal investigat­ion “into a potential threat against the nation’s cybersecur­ity,” wrote US District Judge Amos Mazzant.

Huawei said in a statement that it was disappoint­ed with the ruling and would “continue to consider further legal options.”

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

It has warned that the company’s systems could be manipulate­d by Beijing to conduct espionage and disrupt critical communicat­ions in foreign countries, and is urging countries to shun the firm.

Concerns have intensifie­d with Huawei’s rise to become a world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufactur­ers alongside Samsung and Apple.

But the firm is expected to play a major part in the rollout of ultra-fast 5G networks that will allow wide adoption of nextgenera­tion technologi­es such as artificial intelligen­ce.

Huawei equipment has been seen as considerab­ly more advanced than 5G competitor­s such as Sweden’s Ericsson or Finland’s Nokia, while no US company is considered a serious rival.

The US has banned Huawei from its own 5G rollout, but the European Union and United Kingdom have both left the door open for a limited role in building network infrastruc­ture – prompting rebukes from Washington. – AFP

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