Live data from Hacker News

Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

huawei.com

111–120 of 146 posts

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#111

In these cases I'm always reminded of an Obama speech he made shortly after the beginning of the Edward Snowden disclosures, where he guaranteed in national television that the US did not spy on national citizens. Imagine that, not being a national citizen, but from an allied country, and being told point blank that you are a-okay for spying without any kind of shame. AFAIK China does not intercept all of my country'…

> Imagine that, not being a national citizen, but from an allied country, and being told point blank that you are a-okay for spying without any kind of shame. This was the case from the beginning of modern countries - even back in old Greece or in 400 BC with the introduction of doves (per https://www.focus.de/wissen/mensch/tid-5865/geschichte-der-s... ). It was and is always a case of tacit acceptance - you as a cou…

It's a difference though between spying on another country's government organizations (which is ok) vs. spying on its citizens (which is never ok).

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#112
Here is an article [0] which may define the background to some serious concerns about Huawei. It was almost like Microsoft's purported 'embrace, extend, extinquish' philosophy.

"Many Canadians believe that Huawei stole the core technologies and business strategies from Nortel and used that knowledge to drive Nortel out of world markets and into bankruptcy. "

[0] https://www.assemblymag.com/blogs/14-assembly-blog/post/9063...

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both methods succeed. At that point it's just choosing between plague and cholera.

That's a ridiculous equivalence. It's like saying a government backed army and a guy with a gun are the same because they can both shoot people.

> That's a ridiculous equivalence.

No, it isn't.

> It's like saying a government backed army and a guy with a gun are the same because they can both shoot people.

This however qualifies for that title, since you're probably underestimating China if you're comparing them with a single person with a gun.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While those are wrong, they aren't: > imprisoned, tortured, or killed on the basis of your religious or political beliefs You've entirely failed to refute the parent comment.

Uuh so China is doing drone bombings in the US then or how's that gonna work?

No, they're doing bombings, massacres, and death camps inside their own country.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#115
post #18

> We build base stations in the harshest environments, like the Arctic Circle, the Sahara, rainforests in South America, and even on Mount Everest. In the wake of disasters like the tsunami in Indonesia, the nuclear disaster in Japan, and the massive earthquake in Chile, our employees were some of the first on the ground, working tirelessly to restore communications networks and support disaster relief. Then, after y…

huh? Huawei pays very well, and there is a reason it is paid very well. You don't get that kind of money for being a baby.

The wang-sucking dynasty champs have arrived.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imagine that, not being a national citizen, but from an allied country, and being told point blank that you are a-okay for spying without any kind of shame. This was the case from the beginning of modern countries - even back in old Greece or in 400 BC with the introduction of doves (per https://www.focus.de/wissen/mensch/tid-5865/geschichte-der-s... ). It was and is always a case of tacit acceptance - you as a cou…

It's a difference though between spying on another country's government organizations (which is ok) vs. spying on its citizens (which is never ok).

I must have missed that made up rule.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imagine that, not being a national citizen, but from an allied country, and being told point blank that you are a-okay for spying without any kind of shame. This was the case from the beginning of modern countries - even back in old Greece or in 400 BC with the introduction of doves (per https://www.focus.de/wissen/mensch/tid-5865/geschichte-der-s... ). It was and is always a case of tacit acceptance - you as a cou…

It's a difference though between spying on another country's government organizations (which is ok) vs. spying on its citizens (which is never ok).

> vs. spying on its citizens (which is never ok).

Yet everyone does it. The NSA snoops up everyone and their dog, same does GCHQ, same does the BND, same do the Russians and Chinese for anything they can get their paws on.

Doesn't even matter if it's own or other countries' citizens - the NSA simply asks BND or GCHQ to spy on US citizens on their behalf, and vice versa. Laws meaning to protect citizens from their own secret services are for all practical measures null and void.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#118
post #18

> We build base stations in the harshest environments, like the Arctic Circle, the Sahara, rainforests in South America, and even on Mount Everest. In the wake of disasters like the tsunami in Indonesia, the nuclear disaster in Japan, and the massive earthquake in Chile, our employees were some of the first on the ground, working tirelessly to restore communications networks and support disaster relief. Then, after y…

All communication companies have a similar quote. https://www.ericsson.com/en/about-us/sustainability-and-corp...

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't. I think they're both a bad choice. It's just that the media seems to exclusively focus on huawei. And I can somewhat understand the American media doing that, but it's no different here. We've had like what, three Cisco backdoors in the last couple weeks, but who besides tech gave a shit? Actually, there isn't anything published yet that would suggest huawei products contain any. Nothing besides "they're…

The big difference between U.S/Cisco and China/Huawei is that in the U.S., the government broke into Cisco's systems without their help or consent. In contrast, it is largely understood that Huawei freely assists and cooperates with the Chinese government. The combination of a major tech provider with a powerful government provides too much temptation for abuse.

> [...] is that in the U.S., the government broke into Cisco's systems without their help or consent.

That's what they claim and given the repercussions, both legally and commercially, for admitting to willingly giving the NSA all the access they want or deliberately planting backdoors, it's not all that hard to see why they'd be lying about this. Saying that it was without their help or consent is the only sensible choice they had / have.

> In contrast, it is largely understood that Huawei freely assists and cooperates with the Chinese government.

The only "proof" of that are statements from the US government. The very organization with a decades long track record of global mass surveillance, among other things.

Doesn't really take a leap of imagination that this is more about holding back a successful Chinese company in favor of something more "controllable" than it is about Huawei being an actual security risk. After all, we have a new Cisco backdoor like what, every other week? Whereas proof for those alleged Huawei backdoors has yet to materialize and that is with GCHQ having inspected Huawei's equipment and source code for more than 8 years now.

If you ask me, this just boils down to anti-China propaganda from the US. Which doesn't mean that we should simply trust Huawei, but in the absence of any compelling evidence we Europeans are better off policing them - the GSMA for example wants a Europe-wide equipment-testing organization for suppliers like Huawei - rather than banning them outright.

Re: Huawei Facts: An open letter to the US media

#120

Huawei was created as a front organization for China's intelligence service. This has been known for years; long before the Iran deal. We know it and they deny it. That's how the game has always been played with respect to Huawei. Other Chinese companies like Lenovo have exhibited tendencies to spy, but AFAIK only Huawei originated as essentially an arm of the Chinese CIA. That's what makes Huawei different.

Powerful statement. Do you have a reference for that from a credible source?
Post reply on HN