Huawei gaining support despite US ban

Charm offensive: To restore its international reputation, Huawei’s top guns including the normally reclusive Ren began to grant interviews to foreign media to address concerns and talk about the group’s technology edge. — Huawei/AFP

CHINA’s Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment and second largest manufacturer of smartphones, appears to have cleared some key hurdles with the might of its superfast 5G wireless technology amid relentless attacks by the United States.

The Trump administration has claimed that Huawei poses a potential national security threat. It is lobbying its allies to ban Huawei’s equipment, which Washington alleges could be used by the Chinese government for spying.

The US prosecutors have alleged that Huawei stole trade secrets and worked to skirt US sanctions on Iran. On Dec 1, with the help of Canada, it arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of the company founder. She faces extradition to the US to be charged for various offences.

Washington has repeatedly cited a Chinese law passed in 2017 allowing state intelligence agency to compel individual organisations to “provide necessary support, assistance and cooperation” as proof Huawei can’t be trusted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned allies against using Huawei technology, saying it would make it difficult for Washington to “partner alongside them”.

There is also constant reminder that Huawei’s 74-year-old founder Ren Zhengfei was a former engineer in China’s army and joined the Communist Party in 1978, before setting up Huawei in 1987.

In the past one year, the international environment looked hostile and global picture looked grim for Huawei, when New Zealand, Australia and Japan followed the US to block Huawei in 5G involvement in their countries, while European nations led by Britain and Germany placed Huawei under scrutiny.

It looked like this global leader in the fifth generation wireless techno­logy, which has operations in 170 countries, was to lose many potential customers in this non-stop anti-Huawei campaign.

The Chinese tech giant has vehemently denied all accusations by the US, saying these allegations are baseless and not proven. The Chinese government has also denied these claims.

 

Still popular: Attendees excited by the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone revealed at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — AP

Public relations offensive

When taking a soft approach in response to US assault did not help to restore its international reputation, Huawei decided to go on an aggressive PR offensive recently.

Huawei’s top guns began to grant interviews to foreign media to address concerns and talk about the group’s technology edge.

In a recent interview with BBC, the founder of Huawei declared in Mandarin: “There’s no way the US can crush us. The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced. Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit.”

Indeed, Huawei has already built up such a strong lead in 5G techno­logy that it is practically irreplaceable, say analysts.

Huawei claims that its 5G techno­logy is at least one year ahead of its rivals, and many in the tech world agree.

The most successful private company in China is an important part of Beijing’s efforts to advance superfast 5G wireless networks.

Although under Chinese law, firms had to “co-operate with and collaborate in national intelligence work”, the serious-looking Ren told BBC that allowing spying was a risk he wouldn’t take.

“The Chinese government has already clearly said that it won’t install any backdoors. And we won’t install backdoors either. We’re not going to risk the disgust of our country and of our customers all over the world ... Our company will never undertake any spying activities. If we have any such actions, then I’ll shut the company down.”

He described the arrest of his daughter Meng Wanzhou as “politically motivated” amid the year-long US-China trade war.

The US is pressing criminal charges against Huawei and Meng, including money laundering, bank fraud and stealing trade secrets. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing.

Huawei has also used the four-day 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona held last week as a platform to further its media blitz.

Huawei’s chairman Guo Ping expressed hope “independent sovereign states will make independent decisions based on their own understanding of the situation and will not just listen to someone else’s order.”

He added that Huawei must abide by Chinese law and laws of countries where it operates.

“Huawei will never, and dare not, and cannot violate any regulations,” he pledged.

Faced with so much scrutiny, it is no wonder that Huawei’s issue overshadowed the launch of new products and other tech giants at the global trade fair.

To the delight of Huawei, GSMA – a global lobby representing more than 750 network operators and the Mobile World Congress organiser – has appealed to European policymakers not to ban Huawei in Europe’s 5G networks.

It urged countries to take “a fact-based and risk-based approach” in a statement that the US wireless industry did not endorse.

No evidence of spying

Amid Huawei’s PR offensive, which includes aggressive advertising and sponsorship of events, some good news started trickling in for the Shenzhen-based company that hires 180,000 people worldwide.

On Feb 12, it was reported that cyber-security chiefs in the National Cyber Security Centre of Britain had concluded that “any risk posed by involving Huawei in UK telecoms projects can be managed”.

This report is seen as casting doubt on US claim of the security threat from Huawei.

On Feb 19, independent tech news portal The Register reported that Europeans could not find any evidence of Chinese spying.

“No concrete evidence has so far emerged that Huawei equipment contains a backdoor or any other means for China to snoop on,” said the portal’s writer Kieren McCarthy, based in Los Angeles.

And according to media reports, Germany’s Cabinet has rejected American efforts to impose a global ban on Huawei, after its own security services reported that it has failed to find any evidence of spying.

Both the UK and Germany are huge markets for Huawei. UK’s mobile firms – Vodafone, EE and Three – have been working with Huawei on developing their 5G networks.

Huawei is said to command about 40% share in Europe’s telecom network and equipment market. Hence, banning Huawei could be disruptive in this continent.

As a clear leader in 5G technology, ditching Huawei could also mean falling behind on crucial innovation for Europe.

Indeed, Deutsche Telecom is predicting a two-year delay if Huawei is banned from 5G involvement in Germany.

In India, media reports have suggested that Delhi might ignore US pressure after establishing closer ties with China.

Huawei was allowed to participate in 5G trials in India last December.

Ignoring the anti-Huawei campaign, Maxis announced last week it was collaborating with Huawei to accelerate 5G in Malaysia.

Maxis, in a statement, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei at the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

It highlighted that Huawei has signed over 30 commercial contracts and shipped more than 40,000 5G base stations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The MoU states that both parties will work to speed up the rollout of 5G technology in the country, working on full-fledged trials with end-to-end systems and services.

“Maxis has long started its 5G journey, and we are already focusing on live trials, investments and evolving our network infrastructure to be ready for a future where smart solutions will be part of everyday life,” said Maxis CEO-designate Gokhan Ogut.

Perhaps, the last thing Huawei expected was a tweet by US President Donald Trump on Feb 21 amid the US-China trade talks: “I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the US as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind.

“I want the US to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies. We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology!”

Does this mean Huawei would be allowed enter the US market? But can Trump’s tweet be taken seriously by Huawei and Beijing?

China’s dream can’t be crushed

In fact, the onslaught against Huawei is creating big problems for mobile operators as they start building the next generation of wireless networks this year.

This will not only hurt Huawei but also its suppliers in the US and other players in the world, if the US has its way.

As expected, the anti-Huawei campaign has fanned up patriotism among Chinese consumers and the first casualty is Apple.

Demand for Huawei’s devices surged amid local campaigns to ditch US phones. Huawei sold 30 million phones in China in the last three months of 2018, nearly three times as many as Apple, whose sales plunged 20%.

The US-Huawei showdown is also hurting trade and diplomatic relations between China and the close allies of US.

Exports of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to China are seeing negative impact from retaliations from Beijing and tourism linked to Chinese has also taken a hit.

But Huawei’s success in 5G technology is more than geopolitics and competitive price. It represents the rapid rise of China as a tech power, which the US could not stomach.

There is fear by the US that China will control the technologies of the future. Already, China is advanced in AI (artificial intelligence) and has just become the world’s largest solar power producer.

China is the world’s second largest economy. Many analysts believe it will overtake the US to become the biggest economy by 2030, with the momentum created by its 2025 Made-in-China vision and other economic plans.

Huawei last year overtook Apple as the second biggest supplier of smartphones. The company is expected to overtake Samsung by 2020.

In Barcelona, Huawei announced that it expected to ship between 250 million and 260 million smartphones in 2019, up 20%-30% from 2018.

Judging from recent developments, the anti-Huawei campaign may put a brake to the rapid growth of this tech company, but it certainty will not crush Huawei and China’s ambition to lead in technology globally.

By Ho Wah Foon The Star

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The persistent pipe dream: some politicians play religion and race cards ended up becoming rats themselves

Vision 2020 - A pipe dream - Aliran

It's been more than six decades since Malaysian independence, yet, more than ever, some politicians continue to wield the race and religion cards to divide us.

PATHETIC and disgusting. That’s surely an understatement in describing the continuous racist slurs non-Malays have had to endure.

Using non-Malays – particularly the Christians – as bogeymen hasn’t ended, even more than six decades after independence.

The situation has probably worsened because social media has made things more evident and amplified them. Thankfully though, politicians selling venom to their target audience can no longer be a covert affair.

These chameleons used to stir the hornet’s nest of race and religion with the Malays, portraying themselves as champions of their community. And then, they have no qualms attending events at Chinese new villages, where they try to please the residents by professing to be one people. Just to add value to the “show”, even a calligraphy writing session is entertained. Next on their “tour” – get on stage, put their palms together, and greet the people in Tamil, and then do the dance bit, of course. And we bought all that, believing they portrayed the real Malaysia.

Incredibly, some are still doing the rounds. For a fresh twist, the LBGT element has even been thrown in now, and despite the charade being recorded, clarification must be issued to say otherwise. You know, I didn’t mean it.

Someone has forgotten that it isn’t only the ghosts, drunkards and LBGT community who are still awake at 11pm and need to use the toll.

These commuters include nurses, doctors, policemen, security guards, hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant employees, firemen, factory workers, food deliverers and of course, journalists too, and we often work the infamous graveyard shift.

Scoring points and teaming up with an equally repulsive partner to create suspicion against other fellows, with fictional threats of race and religion, is just unacceptable.

While we cringe over the thought of how there are listeners who buy their hate speech, we expect these politicians to at least rise above these nauseating tactics and convince the people that they can provide better governance and deliver more than the present government.

They should prove to the people that the new government’s failings include not fulfilling its election promises, allowing the cost of living to go up and watching the ringgit’s value shrink. And to add ammunition, highlight how some ministers have even failed their probation.

That’s what a fault-finding Opposition is supposed to do – ensure check and balance, and behave like a government in-waiting, but here we have opposition Members of Parliament who can’t wait to broker a deal by defecting to the government’s side of the fence.

There’s another distateful story. It’s about an Umno MP who crossed over to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and had the gall to admit that he was doing it for the constituents.

So, we have an odd situation where opposition MPs mourned the defeat of the previous government even after almost a year, and now plot to join the new government. Not plot to topple, of course, not that again, but plot to join. Naturally, it’s in the interest of the people.

We believe you, well, some of us do. Most of us know it’s just a lie, but hey, we are in the era of malu apa ...

Then, there are the “remnants”, who probably won’t be accepted by the new government, and figure that the only way for them to get back on the gravy train is to stoke the fires of racial and religious sensitivity. You’ve got to give it to this lot, though. They are, at least, fighting back, although their methods are pretty despicable.

However, the hate speeches will likely work in some constituencies, where, like oil, it burns the minds and hearts of angry voters who are already struggling to put food on the table for their families.

Still, it’s the pits when someone like Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz resorts to claiming that having a non-Muslim Attorney General is not “lawful” since he took oath without swearing on the Quran. Nazri, of course, is bluffing, but he’s like those snake oil peddlers who will say anything to make a sale.

Nowhere in the Federal Constitution does it state that an AG needs to take an oath using the Quran. And surely, we won’t expect the likes of Nazri to concede that in the history of Malaya, there were six British AGs.

Cecil Sheridan, who died aged 88 in 2000, was the last British Attorney-General of Malaya and helped in drafting the constitution of its successor state, Malaysia.

When Malaya attained independence in 1957, Sheridan was promoted to Solicitor-General and in 1959, became the country’s Attorney-General. He also helped in the preparations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in the process, worked closely with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tun Razak Hussein, its deputy Prime Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew, of Singapore.

True, the eight subsequent successors were Malays, but there’s no race and religion criteria in the appointment of the top-ranking public prosecutor of the country.

The first Lord President of Malaysia – now renamed Chief Justice – was a Scot named Tun Sir James Thompson, who assumed the post in 1963 when Malaysia was formed. He held the post until 1966.

Likewise, after independence in 1957, Malaysia's first two finance ministers were ethnic Chinese – Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Siew Sin. However, from 1974 until very recently, the post had been held by Malays.

So, what we are effectively saying is that our founding fathers had no issue with the ethnicity of these important posts such as chief judge, attorney general and finance ministers. However, as six decades have worn on, we have become more degenerate, insisting on focusing on race and religion, instead of qualifications, credibility and integrity as the main criteria?

Certainly, these men, who held the loftiest positions, did well then, and many of us can accept that they didn’t collude with individuals to loot the wealth of this country and the Malays – who make up the bulk of Malaysians.

The harsh reality is that the pilfering and corruption are shamelessly executed by those claiming to fight for their race and religion. They shouldn’t blame anyone else or try to fan the flames of racial discontent to save themselves. Malaysians are tired of such perversion, so we can’t allow such incorrigible politics to proliferate in our beloved country.

One Chinese Finance Minister, a Christian Chief Justice and an Indian Attorney-General aren’t going to be able to control a country of 31 million people, where Malays and the indigenous people make up 61.7%, compared to the the shrinking Chinese (20.8%) and Indian (6.2%) population.

As for religion, according to a 2010 estimate, Muslims number most at 61.3%, Buddhists 19.8%, Christians 9.2%, Hindus 6.3% with Confucianism, Taoism and other Chinese practices at 1.3%, others 0.4%, no religion 0.8%, unspecified 1%.

As for the 1.6 million civil servants – the then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that as at December 2014, the ethnic composition of the civil service was as follows: 78.8% Malays, Bumiputera Sabah (6.1%), Bumiputera Sarawak (4.8 %), Chinese (5.2 %), Indians (4.1 %), other Bumiputera (0.3%) and others (0.7%).

As for the police force, then-Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said non-Malays only made up 5% of the 133,212-strong force.

“Of the total, 80.23% or 106,871 are Malays, while Chinese make up only 1.96% (2,615), Indians 3.16% (4,209), Punjabis 0.21% (275) and others 14.44% (19,242),” he said in replying a question by Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Amanah-Kuala Terengganu).

And we haven’t even counted the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Malays holding key posts in the Cabinet, and of course, the overwhelmingly Malay armed forces, numbering 420,000 personnel. It’s downright contemptible for our politicians to make fictional claims of non-Malays gaining control of the country, when the facts and figures clearly speak for themselves. For most rational Malaysians, we just want to see a clean government and civil service, which can safeguard our national interest, regardless of race and religion.

The late Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping famously said that it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice.

Our recent history has showed that our big fat cats didn’t catch the mice but ended up becoming rats themselves.

Wong Chun Wai

Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.

On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.

• chunwai@thestar.com.my
• https://twitter.com/chunwai09
• http://www.wongchunwai.com/

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Huawei gaining support despite US ban

Charm offensive: To restore its international reputation, Huawei’s top guns including the normally reclusive Ren began to grant interviews to foreign media to address concerns and talk about the group’s technology edge. — Huawei/AFP

CHINA’s Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment and second largest manufacturer of smartphones, appears to have cleared some key hurdles with the might of its superfast 5G wireless technology amid relentless attacks by the United States.

The Trump administration has claimed that Huawei poses a potential national security threat. It is lobbying its allies to ban Huawei’s equipment, which Washington alleges could be used by the Chinese government for spying.

The US prosecutors have alleged that Huawei stole trade secrets and worked to skirt US sanctions on Iran. On Dec 1, with the help of Canada, it arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of the company founder. She faces extradition to the US to be charged for various offences.

Washington has repeatedly cited a Chinese law passed in 2017 allowing state intelligence agency to compel individual organisations to “provide necessary support, assistance and cooperation” as proof Huawei can’t be trusted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned allies against using Huawei technology, saying it would make it difficult for Washington to “partner alongside them”.

There is also constant reminder that Huawei’s 74-year-old founder Ren Zhengfei was a former engineer in China’s army and joined the Communist Party in 1978, before setting up Huawei in 1987.

In the past one year, the international environment looked hostile and global picture looked grim for Huawei, when New Zealand, Australia and Japan followed the US to block Huawei in 5G involvement in their countries, while European nations led by Britain and Germany placed Huawei under scrutiny.

It looked like this global leader in the fifth generation wireless techno­logy, which has operations in 170 countries, was to lose many potential customers in this non-stop anti-Huawei campaign.

The Chinese tech giant has vehemently denied all accusations by the US, saying these allegations are baseless and not proven. The Chinese government has also denied these claims.

 

Still popular: Attendees excited by the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone revealed at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — AP

Public relations offensive

When taking a soft approach in response to US assault did not help to restore its international reputation, Huawei decided to go on an aggressive PR offensive recently.

Huawei’s top guns began to grant interviews to foreign media to address concerns and talk about the group’s technology edge.

In a recent interview with BBC, the founder of Huawei declared in Mandarin: “There’s no way the US can crush us. The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced. Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit.”

Indeed, Huawei has already built up such a strong lead in 5G techno­logy that it is practically irreplaceable, say analysts.

Huawei claims that its 5G techno­logy is at least one year ahead of its rivals, and many in the tech world agree.

The most successful private company in China is an important part of Beijing’s efforts to advance superfast 5G wireless networks.

Although under Chinese law, firms had to “co-operate with and collaborate in national intelligence work”, the serious-looking Ren told BBC that allowing spying was a risk he wouldn’t take.

“The Chinese government has already clearly said that it won’t install any backdoors. And we won’t install backdoors either. We’re not going to risk the disgust of our country and of our customers all over the world ... Our company will never undertake any spying activities. If we have any such actions, then I’ll shut the company down.”

He described the arrest of his daughter Meng Wanzhou as “politically motivated” amid the year-long US-China trade war.

The US is pressing criminal charges against Huawei and Meng, including money laundering, bank fraud and stealing trade secrets. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing.

Huawei has also used the four-day 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona held last week as a platform to further its media blitz.

Huawei’s chairman Guo Ping expressed hope “independent sovereign states will make independent decisions based on their own understanding of the situation and will not just listen to someone else’s order.”

He added that Huawei must abide by Chinese law and laws of countries where it operates.

“Huawei will never, and dare not, and cannot violate any regulations,” he pledged.

Faced with so much scrutiny, it is no wonder that Huawei’s issue overshadowed the launch of new products and other tech giants at the global trade fair.

To the delight of Huawei, GSMA – a global lobby representing more than 750 network operators and the Mobile World Congress organiser – has appealed to European policymakers not to ban Huawei in Europe’s 5G networks.

It urged countries to take “a fact-based and risk-based approach” in a statement that the US wireless industry did not endorse.

No evidence of spying

Amid Huawei’s PR offensive, which includes aggressive advertising and sponsorship of events, some good news started trickling in for the Shenzhen-based company that hires 180,000 people worldwide.

On Feb 12, it was reported that cyber-security chiefs in the National Cyber Security Centre of Britain had concluded that “any risk posed by involving Huawei in UK telecoms projects can be managed”.

This report is seen as casting doubt on US claim of the security threat from Huawei.

On Feb 19, independent tech news portal The Register reported that Europeans could not find any evidence of Chinese spying.

“No concrete evidence has so far emerged that Huawei equipment contains a backdoor or any other means for China to snoop on,” said the portal’s writer Kieren McCarthy, based in Los Angeles.

And according to media reports, Germany’s Cabinet has rejected American efforts to impose a global ban on Huawei, after its own security services reported that it has failed to find any evidence of spying.

Both the UK and Germany are huge markets for Huawei. UK’s mobile firms – Vodafone, EE and Three – have been working with Huawei on developing their 5G networks.

Huawei is said to command about 40% share in Europe’s telecom network and equipment market. Hence, banning Huawei could be disruptive in this continent.

As a clear leader in 5G technology, ditching Huawei could also mean falling behind on crucial innovation for Europe.

Indeed, Deutsche Telecom is predicting a two-year delay if Huawei is banned from 5G involvement in Germany.

In India, media reports have suggested that Delhi might ignore US pressure after establishing closer ties with China.

Huawei was allowed to participate in 5G trials in India last December.

Ignoring the anti-Huawei campaign, Maxis announced last week it was collaborating with Huawei to accelerate 5G in Malaysia.

Maxis, in a statement, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei at the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

It highlighted that Huawei has signed over 30 commercial contracts and shipped more than 40,000 5G base stations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The MoU states that both parties will work to speed up the rollout of 5G technology in the country, working on full-fledged trials with end-to-end systems and services.

“Maxis has long started its 5G journey, and we are already focusing on live trials, investments and evolving our network infrastructure to be ready for a future where smart solutions will be part of everyday life,” said Maxis CEO-designate Gokhan Ogut.

Perhaps, the last thing Huawei expected was a tweet by US President Donald Trump on Feb 21 amid the US-China trade talks: “I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the US as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind.

“I want the US to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies. We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology!”

Does this mean Huawei would be allowed enter the US market? But can Trump’s tweet be taken seriously by Huawei and Beijing?

China’s dream can’t be crushed

In fact, the onslaught against Huawei is creating big problems for mobile operators as they start building the next generation of wireless networks this year.

This will not only hurt Huawei but also its suppliers in the US and other players in the world, if the US has its way.

As expected, the anti-Huawei campaign has fanned up patriotism among Chinese consumers and the first casualty is Apple.

Demand for Huawei’s devices surged amid local campaigns to ditch US phones. Huawei sold 30 million phones in China in the last three months of 2018, nearly three times as many as Apple, whose sales plunged 20%.

The US-Huawei showdown is also hurting trade and diplomatic relations between China and the close allies of US.

Exports of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to China are seeing negative impact from retaliations from Beijing and tourism linked to Chinese has also taken a hit.

But Huawei’s success in 5G technology is more than geopolitics and competitive price. It represents the rapid rise of China as a tech power, which the US could not stomach.

There is fear by the US that China will control the technologies of the future. Already, China is advanced in AI (artificial intelligence) and has just become the world’s largest solar power producer.

China is the world’s second largest economy. Many analysts believe it will overtake the US to become the biggest economy by 2030, with the momentum created by its 2025 Made-in-China vision and other economic plans.

Huawei last year overtook Apple as the second biggest supplier of smartphones. The company is expected to overtake Samsung by 2020.

In Barcelona, Huawei announced that it expected to ship between 250 million and 260 million smartphones in 2019, up 20%-30% from 2018.

Judging from recent developments, the anti-Huawei campaign may put a brake to the rapid growth of this tech company, but it certainty will not crush Huawei and China’s ambition to lead in technology globally.

By Ho Wah Foon The Star


Related:

How can the US monitor the world if we all use Huawei?

Why does the US government always crack down on Huawei? To achieve this, it even uses some disgraceful measures, including slandering the company by exerting its national power. The US moves have sparked questions as to why the US fears the Chinese company so much. Why does the company annoy the US?

China's Huawei CFO sues Canada govt ahead of ... - The Star

Huawei sues US government in growing counteroffensive against purchasing ban

China's Huawei sues to challenge US security law

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Why Huawei’s 5G technology is seen as a threat by the US

Huawei unveils server chipset as China cuts reliance on imports

Year 2018 review: Huawei and the technology cold war, competition in spheres of influence

 

Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei breaks years of silence amid continued US attacks on Chinese tech giant

 

Huawei CFO arrest violates human rights as US takes aim at Huawei, the real trade war with China

From trade war to global anarchy?

 

Employees believe Huawei will survive widespread bans in West with ‘Wolf spirit’ culture

Did Huawei violate Iran sanctions? No, it shows deeper US-China battle for global influence as power coming from high-tech sector 

 

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Battle for global 5G mobile phone technology the real reason for Huawei CFO arrest

 

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Risk of rising McCarthyism warned amid China-US spat

 

More than just a trade war, US in skirmises with China over IT, trade and 'national security'

 

China demands U.S. to drop Huawei exec's extradition as the latter don't have law on their side

 

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  Unfolding future innovation: a look ahead at 2019's tech trends

 

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World economy set to feel trade war pain in 2019

 

China's GPS rival BeiDou to go global

 

Looking East policy with a twist to China ?

The persistent pipe dream: some politicians play religion and race cards ended up becoming rats themselves

Vision 2020 - A pipe dream - Aliran

It's been more than six decades since Malaysian independence, yet, more than ever, some politicians continue to wield the race and religion cards to divide us.

PATHETIC and disgusting. That’s surely an understatement in describing the continuous racist slurs non-Malays have had to endure.

Using non-Malays – particularly the Christians – as bogeymen hasn’t ended, even more than six decades after independence.

The situation has probably worsened because social media has made things more evident and amplified them. Thankfully though, politicians selling venom to their target audience can no longer be a covert affair.

These chameleons used to stir the hornet’s nest of race and religion with the Malays, portraying themselves as champions of their community. And then, they have no qualms attending events at Chinese new villages, where they try to please the residents by professing to be one people. Just to add value to the “show”, even a calligraphy writing session is entertained. Next on their “tour” – get on stage, put their palms together, and greet the people in Tamil, and then do the dance bit, of course. And we bought all that, believing they portrayed the real Malaysia.

Incredibly, some are still doing the rounds. For a fresh twist, the LBGT element has even been thrown in now, and despite the charade being recorded, clarification must be issued to say otherwise. You know, I didn’t mean it.

Someone has forgotten that it isn’t only the ghosts, drunkards and LBGT community who are still awake at 11pm and need to use the toll.

These commuters include nurses, doctors, policemen, security guards, hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant employees, firemen, factory workers, food deliverers and of course, journalists too, and we often work the infamous graveyard shift.

Scoring points and teaming up with an equally repulsive partner to create suspicion against other fellows, with fictional threats of race and religion, is just unacceptable.

While we cringe over the thought of how there are listeners who buy their hate speech, we expect these politicians to at least rise above these nauseating tactics and convince the people that they can provide better governance and deliver more than the present government.

They should prove to the people that the new government’s failings include not fulfilling its election promises, allowing the cost of living to go up and watching the ringgit’s value shrink. And to add ammunition, highlight how some ministers have even failed their probation.

That’s what a fault-finding Opposition is supposed to do – ensure check and balance, and behave like a government in-waiting, but here we have opposition Members of Parliament who can’t wait to broker a deal by defecting to the government’s side of the fence.

There’s another distateful story. It’s about an Umno MP who crossed over to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and had the gall to admit that he was doing it for the constituents.

So, we have an odd situation where opposition MPs mourned the defeat of the previous government even after almost a year, and now plot to join the new government. Not plot to topple, of course, not that again, but plot to join. Naturally, it’s in the interest of the people.

We believe you, well, some of us do. Most of us know it’s just a lie, but hey, we are in the era of malu apa ...

Then, there are the “remnants”, who probably won’t be accepted by the new government, and figure that the only way for them to get back on the gravy train is to stoke the fires of racial and religious sensitivity. You’ve got to give it to this lot, though. They are, at least, fighting back, although their methods are pretty despicable.

However, the hate speeches will likely work in some constituencies, where, like oil, it burns the minds and hearts of angry voters who are already struggling to put food on the table for their families.

Still, it’s the pits when someone like Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz resorts to claiming that having a non-Muslim Attorney General is not “lawful” since he took oath without swearing on the Quran. Nazri, of course, is bluffing, but he’s like those snake oil peddlers who will say anything to make a sale.

Nowhere in the Federal Constitution does it state that an AG needs to take an oath using the Quran. And surely, we won’t expect the likes of Nazri to concede that in the history of Malaya, there were six British AGs.

Cecil Sheridan, who died aged 88 in 2000, was the last British Attorney-General of Malaya and helped in drafting the constitution of its successor state, Malaysia.

When Malaya attained independence in 1957, Sheridan was promoted to Solicitor-General and in 1959, became the country’s Attorney-General. He also helped in the preparations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in the process, worked closely with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tun Razak Hussein, its deputy Prime Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew, of Singapore.

True, the eight subsequent successors were Malays, but there’s no race and religion criteria in the appointment of the top-ranking public prosecutor of the country.

The first Lord President of Malaysia – now renamed Chief Justice – was a Scot named Tun Sir James Thompson, who assumed the post in 1963 when Malaysia was formed. He held the post until 1966.

Likewise, after independence in 1957, Malaysia's first two finance ministers were ethnic Chinese – Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Siew Sin. However, from 1974 until very recently, the post had been held by Malays.

So, what we are effectively saying is that our founding fathers had no issue with the ethnicity of these important posts such as chief judge, attorney general and finance ministers. However, as six decades have worn on, we have become more degenerate, insisting on focusing on race and religion, instead of qualifications, credibility and integrity as the main criteria?

Certainly, these men, who held the loftiest positions, did well then, and many of us can accept that they didn’t collude with individuals to loot the wealth of this country and the Malays – who make up the bulk of Malaysians.

The harsh reality is that the pilfering and corruption are shamelessly executed by those claiming to fight for their race and religion. They shouldn’t blame anyone else or try to fan the flames of racial discontent to save themselves. Malaysians are tired of such perversion, so we can’t allow such incorrigible politics to proliferate in our beloved country.

One Chinese Finance Minister, a Christian Chief Justice and an Indian Attorney-General aren’t going to be able to control a country of 31 million people, where Malays and the indigenous people make up 61.7%, compared to the the shrinking Chinese (20.8%) and Indian (6.2%) population.

As for religion, according to a 2010 estimate, Muslims number most at 61.3%, Buddhists 19.8%, Christians 9.2%, Hindus 6.3% with Confucianism, Taoism and other Chinese practices at 1.3%, others 0.4%, no religion 0.8%, unspecified 1%.

As for the 1.6 million civil servants – the then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that as at December 2014, the ethnic composition of the civil service was as follows: 78.8% Malays, Bumiputera Sabah (6.1%), Bumiputera Sarawak (4.8 %), Chinese (5.2 %), Indians (4.1 %), other Bumiputera (0.3%) and others (0.7%).

As for the police force, then-Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said non-Malays only made up 5% of the 133,212-strong force.

“Of the total, 80.23% or 106,871 are Malays, while Chinese make up only 1.96% (2,615), Indians 3.16% (4,209), Punjabis 0.21% (275) and others 14.44% (19,242),” he said in replying a question by Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Amanah-Kuala Terengganu).

And we haven’t even counted the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Malays holding key posts in the Cabinet, and of course, the overwhelmingly Malay armed forces, numbering 420,000 personnel. It’s downright contemptible for our politicians to make fictional claims of non-Malays gaining control of the country, when the facts and figures clearly speak for themselves. For most rational Malaysians, we just want to see a clean government and civil service, which can safeguard our national interest, regardless of race and religion.

The late Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping famously said that it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice.

Our recent history has showed that our big fat cats didn’t catch the mice but ended up becoming rats themselves.

Wong Chun Wai

Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.

On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.

• chunwai@thestar.com.my
• https://twitter.com/chunwai09
• http://www.wongchunwai.com/

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