US National Security Concerns Over Huawei Are ‘Such a Reach'

The US' move to persuade allies from using Huawei tech products over so-called national security concerns is a bit of a "stretch," David Ewing, the chair of the San Francisco chapter of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association, told Sputnik Friday.

Huawei is a Chinese telecommunications and consumer-electronics company based in Shenzhen, China. Washington has repeatedly stressed that Huawei and fellow electronics company ZTE could easily be used by Beijing to conduct cyber attacks as part of a cooperation between said companies and Chinese intelligence agencies.

Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has started to reach out to its allies, such as Germany, Italy and Japan, in the hopes that it can convince them to no longer use any products and services offered by Huawei, a leader in 5G networks.

The Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, goes on to note that the US is especially concerned with Huawei technologies being used against American military bases abroad.

​Ewing told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear on Friday that Washington's national security worry over Huawei's products "is such a reach."

"In terms of telephone equipment that could be at the heart of its national security interests, its a stretch," Ewing told hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou. "Many of these countries are already impacted by sanctions the US has imposed on their own steel and metal productions."

"Huawei is a major international producer of telephone equipment, they're the leader in 5G network technology… ahead of the US in that area," he added.

Earlier this year, a week after US President Donald Trump moved to ban government use of Huawei and ZTE in August, Australia followed in the US' steps and opted to block both companies from supplying 5G technology to the country's networks.

According to Ewing, the chances that US allies will go along on the matter are somewhat slim. "I think it's strategically something they have to think of, but who knows. I'm just surprised that the US thinks this will really work," he said.

"It just seems counterproductive for their own interests as capitalist states," he stressed.

Huawei told CNN Business that it was "surprised" by the behaviors noted in the Wall Street Journal article, adding, "if a government's behavior extends beyond its jurisdiction, such activity should not be encouraged."

The US' latest move comes as both Belgium and China submitted cases to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday in which they argued that Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum can't be justified by national security concerns. Trump imposed said tariffs in May.