Foreign Minister Wang Yi expresses support for Huawei at his yearly press conference

At a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the government supported Huawei’s filing of a court case against the U.S. government. “We support the company and the individual in question in seeking legal redress to protect their own interests and refusing to be victimized like silent lambs,” Wang said. Huawei is accusing the U.S. government of unlawfully excluding it from participating in telecom equipment tenders and of political persecution of the company. Wang called the U.S. approach towards Meng and Huawei “by no means a pure judicial case, but a deliberate political move to bring them down”. He also said the Chinese government would continue to take necessary measures to protect the legal rights of its citizens and companies.

Huawei’s lawsuit against the U.S. will be closely watched as a landmark case, influencing other countries how to proceed. Analysts say it shows that Huawei is willing to go through an open public process to clear its name. Huawei is facing accusations from the U.S. that it has ties to the Chinese government and that its telecom equipment could be used for Chinese intelligence purposes, a claim that the Shenzhen-based company has vehemently denied. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou has separately sued the Canadian government for irregularities during her arrest amounting to a violation of her constitutional rights.

Legal proceedings in the Meng Wanzhou case have been adjourned till May 8. A judge is still deliberating when to fix a date for Meng’s extradition hearing, which itself could drag on for months or even years. The U.S. is requesting Meng’s extradition on charges of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and financial fraud related to it. Meng – Huawei’s CFO and daughter of its Founder – has been detained in Canada since December 1 last year and is staying under supervision at one of her homes in Vancouver. Lawyers for Meng told the judge that her arrest was politically motivated, pointing to remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would intervene in the case if it could help settle the trade war between China and the U.S.

Some ministers in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government aim to keep Huawei Technologies out of Germany’s fifth-generation mobile networks as the auction of 5G network licenses is set to begin on March 19. While the German cabinet has decided that an outright ban on the Chinese equipment maker would be legally impossible, officials are demanding tools that would allow them to block Huawei equipment from being used. But the Ministry of Economy and industry groups have said that sidelining Huawei would delay the roll-out of 5G by years and cost the country billions. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has said that any restrictions can’t involve targeting specific companies, but will have to involve security standards for all potential service providers. Ministries are still in the process of negotiating how strict the certification criteria will be.

Huawei opened its new Cyber Security Transparency Center in Brussels last week, which aims to help build “a secure and trustworthy digital environment” in Europe, the company said.

During his press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also urged Europe to stay “independent” in its dealings with China in the face of increased U.S. pressure. Italy said it planned to sign up for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the U.S. opposed Italy’s move. Wang Yi praised Italy’s decision and urged other European countries to join the scheme. He also repeated China’s plea to Europe to stand with it in defending multilateralism in trade in the face of U.S. protectionism.