What a year it’s been for Huawei. In what can only be described as a roller coaster year, the company has seen every stride they’ve made in the global market matched with some sort of unlikely kick backward, the biggest of them all being the US trade ban, of course.
With the world seemingly against them, Huawei has had some good news in recent weeks. First with confirmation that the P30 Pro is set to be in line for the Android 10 update and now, with Microsoft president Brad Smith giving the company Microsoft’s backing in their ongoing case against the United States.
Brad Smith, who is also the company’s chief legal officer has threw down the gauntlet to the US government, disputing their claim that Huawei is a national security threat and insisting that they provide evidence to their claims, stating that the government had yet to do so.
He even went as far as to say that the governments treatment of the Chinese behemoth is un-American and he can’t see any reason as to why the vendor should be barred from being able to purchase technology from US companies, Microsoft included.
“Oftentimes, what we get in response is, ‘Well, if you knew what we knew, you would agree with us.’ And our answer is, ‘great, show us what you know so we can decide for ourselves. That’s the way this country works’.”
Brad Smith, President of Microsoft
While Mr. Brad Smith here certainly has a point, it’s hard not to question his intentions. Microsoft is one of the companies that are directly affected by the trade ban so i’d take what he says with a pinch of salt. All of a sudden he’s saying thing’s like “such major decisions as an export ban shouldn’t be made without a sound basis in fact, logic, and the rule of law and requires more reasoning” when Microsoft employees were recently caught listening in on Skype, Cortana and Xbox One recordings. Tsk tsk.
It’s also pretty un-American of him to question the POTUS decision, especially on matters of National Security, no? But then again, ever since Donald Trump came into power, it’s hard to put a finger on what exactly is ‘American’. I mean, it’s not nice to associate stupidity with a particular country but at the rate he’s going, he’s outdoing even himself.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his views that the company could be part of an accord, seems to have changed his mind AGAIN, stating last week that the US isn’t looking to include the company in any trade deal with China.
I’m convinced he’s making it all up as he goes and while it’s fun to spectate and give commentary, his antics have real world implications for us all.
