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I don't get why Huawei gets specific hate? Shouldn't this equally apply to all Chinese vendors? I wouldn't expect any are less susceptible to government control

I don't get why Huawei gets specific hate? Shouldn't this equally apply to all Chinese vendors? I wouldn't expect any are less susceptible to government control?

zweifuss 11mo ago
ZTE is also under scrutiny. The reason it's only Huawei and ZTE is that other Chinese providers are so insignificant that the telecoms will likely be able to replace the infrastructure themselves with spares or consolidation. However, in an emergency, the government would have to foot the bill for replacing Huawei/ZTE systems quickly, as the telecoms couldn't finance this and lack of capacity would mean very high prices.
- hmm37 11mo ago
  Huawei at least is giving their source code to be scrutinized. What can be said of other vendors?
esbranson 11mo ago
Huawei simply accumulated a much more court-defensible paper trail—dominant presence, documented code issues, clearer evidence of state leverage, and heavier export-control exposure.
ge96 11mo ago
Nortel
culi 11mo ago
Isn't the same true for American tech companies?
applied_heat 11mo ago
Huawei is often blamed for stealing information from Nortel that led to Nortel’s bankruptcy, both information about deals being made that let Huawei undercut them and technical product details that allowed Huawei to more easily be a substitute for Nortel products
- DiogenesKynikos 11mo ago
  Nortel collapsed long before Huawei even started competing outside of China in any serious way. Nortel was severely hit by the bursting of the tech bubble, and then it got caught faking its financial figures. To blame that on Huawei is just a rewrite of history.
  - applied_heat 11mo ago
    Allegedly hackers were pilfering Nortel starting around year 2000 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-hit-by-suspected-chinese-cyberattacks-for-a-decade-1.1218329 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-hit-by-suspected-chi...
    - DiogenesKynikos 10mo ago
      If true, how did that have any effect on Nortel? As I said before, Huawei wasn't a serious competitor for Nortel at that point. Nortel's business fell apart (and it started fudging its financials) long before Huawei expanded globally.
qwertox 11mo ago
Nothing here is about hate. The concern comes from the legal environment these companies operate in. Any vendor that can be compelled by its government to cooperate in ways we can’t verify becomes a risk in critical infrastructure.

I don't get why Huawei gets specific hate? Shouldn't this equally apply to all Chinese vendors? I wouldn't expect any are less susceptible to government control?

zweifuss 11mo ago

ZTE is also under scrutiny. The reason it's only Huawei and ZTE is that other Chinese providers are so insignificant that the telecoms will likely be able to replace the infrastructure themselves with spares or consolidation. However, in an emergency, the government would have to foot the bill for replacing Huawei/ZTE systems quickly, as the telecoms couldn't finance this and lack of capacity would mean very high prices.

hmm37 11mo ago
Huawei at least is giving their source code to be scrutinized. What can be said of other vendors?

esbranson 11mo ago

Huawei simply accumulated a much more court-defensible paper trail—dominant presence, documented code issues, clearer evidence of state leverage, and heavier export-control exposure.

ge96 11mo ago

Nortel

culi 11mo ago

Isn't the same true for American tech companies?

applied_heat 11mo ago

Huawei is often blamed for stealing information from Nortel that led to Nortel’s bankruptcy, both information about deals being made that let Huawei undercut them and technical product details that allowed Huawei to more easily be a substitute for Nortel products

DiogenesKynikos 11mo ago
Nortel collapsed long before Huawei even started competing outside of China in any serious way. Nortel was severely hit by the bursting of the tech bubble, and then it got caught faking its financial figures. To blame that on Huawei is just a rewrite of history.
- applied_heat 11mo ago
  Allegedly hackers were pilfering Nortel starting around year 2000 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-hit-by-suspected-chinese-cyberattacks-for-a-decade-1.1218329 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-hit-by-suspected-chi...
  - DiogenesKynikos 10mo ago
    If true, how did that have any effect on Nortel? As I said before, Huawei wasn't a serious competitor for Nortel at that point. Nortel's business fell apart (and it started fudging its financials) long before Huawei expanded globally.

qwertox 11mo ago

Nothing here is about hate. The concern comes from the legal environment these companies operate in. Any vendor that can be compelled by its government to cooperate in ways we can’t verify becomes a risk in critical infrastructure.