In an amusing editorial on Thursday, Chinese state propaganda declared that if Huawei loses its new lawsuit against the U.S. government, “the reputation of the U.S. judicial system will be disgraced.”
No, it really won’t, because Huawei’s success in that lawsuit would require the federal judiciary’s acceptance of falsehood. Namely, that the U.S. Congress lacks the authority to ban U.S. federal agencies from buying equipment that endangers national security.
Congress clearly has that authority. And the simple fact here is that Huawei isn’t the technology firm it says it is. Instead, it is a contract agent of China’s two primary intelligence arms: the Ministry of State Security and People’s Liberation Army.
Congress is thus correct to act against the firm. Allowing Huawei to supply the U.S. government would be the political equivalent of allowing a black mamba into a nursery. Not clever.
Of course, what Huawei really fears is encirclement. The U.S. and its allies have realized that Huawei’s success is their own failure. It’s a development that Xi Jinping doesn’t quite know how to deal with. After all, until late last year the Chinese were confident that Huawei was their golden ticket for intellectual property theft and espionage. But now the tides have turned.
Hence, this silly lawsuit and this equally silly editorial.
