China Supports Huawei's Lawsuit Against US Gov't Over Product Ban - Foreign Ministry

Chinese tech giant Huawei's lawsuit against the US government's ban on using its products in federal agencies is completely lawful and justified, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Chinese tech giant Huawei's lawsuit against the US government's ban on using its products in Federal agencies is completely lawful and justified, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese telecom company sued the US government over a ban that restricts federal agencies from using its products due to claims that Huawei products pose a potential national security threat because of its alleged intelligence gathering practices for the Chinese government.

"Concerning the matter of Huawei filing a lawsuit against the US government, we believe that the company's desire to protect its interests in a legal manner is completely lawful and justified," Kang said at a briefing.

The spokesman also noted that China had already lodged representations with the US government when the ban became public law in August, but did not have information on whether the Chinese government would also be filing a lawsuit against the United States.

Huawei accuses the US Congress of failing to produce any evidence to support its claims that Huawei products are a threat to the US government's national security. Its lawsuit will challenge the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National defense Authorization Act law which, according to Huawei, restricts the Chinese company from engaging in fair competition in the US market, thus harming US consumers by restricting their choices of products.

According to Huawei, allowing the tech company to compete without the restrictions of the ban would save North America at least $20 billion over the next four years because it would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure, specifically the development of new 5G networks across the region, by between 15 percent to 40 percent.