U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned Huawei and applauded strong action to hold the company accountable, following news of the Chinese telecom giant’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou being arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S. authorities.
Meng was arrested on suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, according to media reports.
Her bail hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7 as she awaits possible extradition to the United States.
U.S. senators pointed out that Huawei has long been considered a threat to U.S. national security owing to its close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The recent arrest confirmed their wariness of the company.
On Dec. 5, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) compared Huawei to China’s other top telecoms firm, ZTE, which was punished by the U.S. administration earlier this year for failing to adhere to agreements for its violation of Iran sanctions back in 2017.
“This news highlights that Huawei is also violating U.S. law. At a bare minimum, we must hold both companies to the same standard. More importantly, we need a comprehensive plan to hold the Chinese and their state-sponsored entities accountable for gross violations of the law and threats to our security,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
In April, ZTE was slapped with an export ban forbidding American companies from supplying it tech parts and software, causing the company’s operations to shut down. The ban was lifted in July only after it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine and comply with regular inspections.
Other senators also expressed that they supported U.S. sanctions on Huawei.
“If Huawei has been helping violate US sanctions by transferring US technology to Iran they should be barred from operating in the US or from purchasing US technology,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) wrote in a Twitter post on Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) urged U.S. President Donald Trump to “hold Huawei fully accountable for breaking sanctions law, as it failed to do in the case of ZTE,” in a Dec. 6 statement.
He added that Canada, a key U.S. ally, should reconsider allowing Huawei to supply the country’s 5G wireless infrastructure.
Back in October, he and Rubio sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging him to consider the potential national security risks of Huawei’s entry in Canada’s 5G development.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also urged Canada to take bold action, surmising that the Chinese regime would “do everything possible to intimidate the Canadian government to send her back to China,” he wrote in a series of tweets on Dec. 6.
“Our ally Canada must stand strong and extradite her to the United States, where she will face something China does not have: a fair, impartial justice system,” he added.
Cruz characterized Huawei as “a Communist Party spy agency thinly veiled [sic] as a telecom company.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) also told the Associated Press on Dec. 5 that he applauded the Canadian authorities’ cooperation in arresting Meng.
Huawei has largely been shut out of the U.S. market following security experts, intelligence officials, and lawmakers’ concerns that its products could be used to spy on American citizens. In August, Trump signed into law a bill that bans the U.S. government and government contractors from using Huawei and ZTE technology.
