Who is in favor of Huawei's participation in 5G construction? Who is against it?

At present, countries such as Australia and Japan have explicitly banned Huawei, but countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom have not. The attitudes of some regions and countries towards Huawei are still wavering.

5G network technology promises ultra-fast download speeds on devices and is seen as critical infrastructure to support new data technologies such as self-driving cars. The U.S. call for other countries to ban Huawei from these networks has had mixed results. Here are some of the world's major countries' responses and what they think of Huawei.

The United States: The instigator

Huawei has been absent from the US market for many years, and the US government has openly doubted Huawei for a long time.

In 2012, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee released a report saying that equipment from Huawei and its rival ZTE could "undermine core U.S. national security interests."

Recently, the United States has stepped up its criticism and actions against Huawei. Last year, Huawei planned to release a flagship smartphone in the United States through a partnership with telecommunications company AT&T. However, the deal eventually fell apart after the U.S. government reportedly urged AT&T not to do so due to security concerns.

Then in December, Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States. She was charged with suspected violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Meng has denied the charges.

In addition, US government agencies have also been explicitly banned from purchasing Huawei equipment. In March this year, Huawei launched a counterattack and filed a lawsuit against the United States, claiming that a legislation preventing government agencies from purchasing its equipment was unconstitutional.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has also been outspoken on the issue in recent months, telling CNBC in an interview that the U.S. was doing this because it was "scared" of Huawei.

EU: Don’t blame people, blame issues

So far, the EU's response to Huawei has begun to have different voices, with individual countries making their own decisions and EU institutions trying to formulate a unified policy.

The European Commission published its 5G security recommendations in March. The EU's executive arm said member states should conduct security risk assessments of networks in their countries, culminating in an overall assessment later this year. The EU's idea is to identify a range of risks and ways to mitigate them.

While these are not legally binding recommendations, the Commission hopes it will enable countries that are rolling out 5G to legislate. The EU did not name Huawei in its recommendations, nor did it ban the company from participating in 5G network construction.

Japan: Sudden opposition

Japan banned the purchase of network equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies in December. Although the Japanese government did not specifically specify guidelines for boycotting Huawei, it warned telecom operators not to use equipment that could pose security risks.

According to Nikkei Asia, Japan's three major mobile operators, SoftBank Group, NTT Docomo and KDDI, have decided not to use Huawei's network equipment in 5G construction.

Huawei is a supplier of some 4G networks in Japan. SoftBank currently also uses Huawei's 4G equipment, but it is looking to replace it with equipment made by other manufacturers.

Germany: Yes

Germany will not ban Huawei from participating in the construction of the country's 5G network, according to the country's telecom regulator.

Jochen Homann, president of Germany's power grid regulator, told the Financial Times in a recent interview that equipment suppliers including Huawei "should not or could be specifically excluded" and that he had not seen any concrete evidence that Huawei's equipment posed a security risk.

Homann said Huawei could take part in Germany's 5G rollout if it met all security requirements.

In February, media reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seeking a "no spy" agreement with China not to spy on each other. The idea was supported by Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei in an interview with CNBC. He said: "We support unified global standards that make it a crime to install backdoors... We want to sign such an agreement because we think it is the right thing to do,"

UK: Non-core components only

Huawei will reportedly be allowed to participate in the construction of limited parts of the UK's 5G network. Theresa May, chair of the UK National Security Council, said Huawei would be allowed to sell equipment to British operators for use in "non-core" parts of the network.

5G networks consist of a "core" and a radio access network (RAN). The latter is the equipment that allows any device to connect to a 5G network. Experts suggest that keeping Huawei out of the core could be a way to mitigate security risks.

Mobile operators in the UK have warned that an outright ban on Huawei could hurt their business. Vodafone said the move would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and "very significantly" slow down the rollout of 5G. In addition, Huawei has been involved in the UK's 4G network in the past.

However, the UK still has some concerns about Huawei. In March, a government-led watchdog tasked with reviewing Huawei's equipment said previously reported software issues had not been resolved. It added that the company's software engineering and cybersecurity processes had "potential flaws" that would create "significantly increased risks" for UK operators.

India: Wait and see

India has yet to make a decision on Huawei, which it has invited as well as rivals Nokia and Ericsson to run 5G trials in the country.

However, Nikkei reported in March that the Indian government was considering restricting Huawei's participation in 5G rather than making it the exclusive supplier.

France

Huawei is not banned from selling 5G equipment in France. However, French lawmakers are currently discussing a bill that would impose strict tests to determine whether a vendor's network equipment poses a security risk.

An article in the bill proposes giving the French prime minister the power to block manufacturers deemed to be subject to interference from non-EU member states. However, Eric Bothorel, a key figure behind the proposed legislation, said this was "not just for devices from Asian countries".

Brazil: Ignoring US warnings

U.S. officials warned the Brazilian government in March, Reuters reported, expressing their concerns about Huawei, but Huawei is not currently banned or restricted in Brazil.

Italy: Will not stop

Italy said in February that it would not block Huawei or ZTE from participating in the construction of 5G networks, despite earlier reports that it would do as the United States asked.

Canada: Undecided

Canada has not yet made a decision on Huawei, but is continuing to weigh the risks. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has repeatedly stated in the press that there is no timetable for when a decision will be made.

Canada is also caught in the middle of a dispute between the United States, China and Huawei. In December last year, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US government.

South Korea: Operators decide for themselves

South Korea is one of the first countries to launch commercial 5G networks as it seeks to take the lead in the next-generation communications technology, and the government has handed the choice of network equipment suppliers to the carriers themselves.

South Korea's two largest mobile networks, KT and SK Telecom, do not use Huawei equipment for their 5G networks. However, another operator, LG Uplus, owned by South Korean electronics company LG, uses Huawei equipment.

Australia: banned

In August 2018, Australia banned Huawei and ZTE from participating in the country's 5G network.

The move was made during the tenure of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who explained why his government made the decision in a recent interview with CNBC.

Turnbull said that companies involved in the construction of 5G networks provide the physical part of the entire network, and they constantly maintain and access the network, which gives these companies enormous capabilities. If he chooses to take actions that are detrimental to Australia, then Australia's interests will be negatively affected.

Turnbull added: “No one is suggesting Huawei would do this and I certainly wouldn’t. I have great admiration for Huawei but capabilities take a long time to build and intentions can change at will. So you have to factor in the risk that intentions could change over the next few years.”

Turnbull stressed that Huawei had done nothing wrong, but risks could arise if intentions changed.