Helping Hands for Huawei: Dialing into China’s Technology Policy to Understand Its Contemporary Support for Huawei

Abstract

China has aided Huawei for many years, most visibly through multi-billion-dollar loans to support Huawei’s overseas investment, contracting, and sales activities. Recently, its level of support has reached new heights as evidenced by the harsh tone of official Chinese media coverage of those that malign Huawei, the government’s vigorous public defense of Huawei, and its threats and sanctions against countries and companies that make anti-Huawei moves. This chapter shows that China’s helping hand for Huawei has roots in its technology policy generally and telecommunications policy specifically, both of which are driven by powerful international and domestic security, political, economic rationales that are long-standing, albeit fluctuating in importance. Given this, foreign governments and businesses should not expect China to hang up on Huawei absent compelling countervailing forces.