By 
South Africa says it will not yield to pressure from the US to stop using Huawei Technologies Co. equipment on its networks. A report by news24 is quoting the country’s ambassador to the five-nation BRICS bloc.
RELATED: SAS continues to invest in South Africa’s youth
The report notes that countries are facing increasing pressure from the US to take a harder stance on China as conflicts over Taiwan and battles for dominance in technologies from artificial intelligence to chips and quantum computing escalate. The tensions have raised concerns around the world about the Asian nation using Huawei in core telecommunications networks to spy or sabotage systems.
“There was tremendous pressure on us from the US to stop using the Huawei network,” Anil Sooklal said in a lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday. “It is banned in the US, and a major part of Europe has banned Chinese technology.”
South Africa has a close relationship with China, its largest trading partner and will host it together with other BRICS members Brazil, Russia and India at a summit between 22 and 24 August. The bloc is expected to make a pronouncement on the enlargement of the group at the summit.
The announcement will mark a significant change in the global order, Sooklal said, even as some of its members push back against new admissions. China favors a rapid expansion, but India and Brazil want guidelines to be framed first.
For its part, Huawei has offered South Africa thousands of training and technology transfer opportunities over the years, Sooklal said.
US war with China’s Huawei
U.S. companies and global telecom firms have for years accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets, starting with Cisco’s 2003 lawsuit alleging that its source code appeared in Huawei products. The suit over Intellectual property theft was later settled.
In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List, a decision that effectively banned the company from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. Under the order, Huawei needs a U.S. government license to buy components from U.S. suppliers.
Last year, the Biden administration tightened the noose. The US banned the sale and import of new communications equipment from five Chinese companies, including Huawei and ZTE, amid concerns over national security. Other companies listed include Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera, which make video surveillance equipment and two-way radio systems.
