The Chinese telecom giant

Many countries are labelling it a national security risk.

Welcome to China Uncensored,

I'm Chris Chappell.

In December, at the US's request,

Canada arrested the now infamous CFO of Huawei,

Meng Wanzhou.

Why?

Well, according to China's ambassador to Canada,

white supremacy.

Ok, to be fair,

the ambassador said that the white supremacy

wasn't about arresting Meng,

it was about arresting Meng and then complaining about

the Chinese regime arresting two Canadians.

Because if you respect the Canadian legal system

but don't respect the Chinese legal system,

that's definitely because you're a white supremacist.

Or...maybe it's because the Canadian legal system

looks like this:

While the Chinese legal system

looks like this:

Yeah, even the Chinese ambassador

would rather be arrested under the Canadian legal system

than the Chinese legal system.

He just can't say that because he has to go back to China,

and...he doesn't want to get arrested there.

Now, what's been lost amid the diplomatic brouhaha

is the reason the US asked Canada

to extradite Meng Wanzhou in the first place:

that Meng and Huawei had tricked banks

into violating US sanctions on Iran

by using shell companies owned by Huawei

to secretly do business in Iran.

So when banks handled Huawei's financial transactions,

they were accidentally doing business with Iran, too.

And after Meng's arrest,

even more evidence has been found

tying Huawei to these companies.

Now countries around the world have known for years

about some of the sketchy dealings of Huawei.

Not the least of which are shady connections

to the Chinese Communist Party

and potential national security concerns.

But Huawei is also the world's

largest telecommunications company,

which makes closing the door on Huawei

a little challenging when financial interest is on the line.

So here are how 8 different countries have dealt with Huawei.

Number 8

India

After the arrest of Huawei's CFO,

India's telecom export body requested

a ban on Huawei products for government services,

citing national security concerns.

But India's telecom minister said the government

would not look into a ban.

I mean, you can't ban a company

that could be building your country's 5G network, right?!

Huawei will be one of several companies participating

in trials to secure permission to build India's 5G network.

Don't worry,

an Indian official said they would put

all the necessary safeguards in place

before allowing access to core networks.

So India's stance?

Officials are concerned about Huawei.

But the have no plans to block Huawei from government use,

or from their 5G network

Number 7

Germany

Germany's technology watch dog

doesn't think Huawei is a threat.

In fact,

all three of Germany's major telecom companies

use Huawei equipment.

Later this year,

Germany will also be auctioning off contracts

to build its 5G network.

And Huawei wants to play a major role.

Nevertheless, some German officials have launched

a last ditch bid to convince the government

to ban Huawei from the 5G market.

But for now, the German government as a whole

is happy to have Huawei everywhere.

Number 6

France

When it comes to the war for 5G networks,

France has not surrendered.

According to Bloomberg,

France is considering targeting Huawei as a security concern.

France is also looking to build 5G networks.

And it's moving to make parts of its telecoms infrastructure

inaccessible to Huawei.

“France's largest telecoms operator, Orange,

won't use Huawei equipment in its 5G network.”

Other major telecoms have said they'll look into similar moves.

But as of now France has no internal government ban on Huawei.

Number 5

Japan

The nation that brought us Gundams

has decided it doesn't need Huawei,

at least as far as government contracts go,

because of security risks.

The new Japanese guidelines don't specifically mention Huawei,

but are designed to prevent leaks of sensitive information.

The guidelines cover,

“purchases of personal computers,

servers and telecommunications equipment

by the government and Self-Defense Forces

over concerns that viruses embedded in the equipment

could cause systems to fail or could leak sensitive information,

including military operations, to China.”

Japan's telecom carriers are also saying no to Huawei.

So Huawei is not getting a lot of love in Japan.

Number 4

The United Kingdom

Huawei is also interested in the UK's 5G network.

And a few days after Meng Wanzhou's arrest,

Huawei agreed to address

the British government's security concerns.

However, a major British telecom company,

BT Group,

said it won't use Huawei equipment for its core 5G network

and has also begun removing Huawei equipment from its 4G network.

MI6—British intelligence—

has singled out Huawei as a potential security risk.

But officially, Huawei is not banned

for government officials or 5G networks.

Number 3

New Zealand

Just days before Meng's arrest,

New Zealand banned Huawei from the nation's 5G network,

citing “significant national security risks.”

New Zealand's intelligence agency

also rejected a proposal from Spark,

one of the country's biggest telecom carriers,

to use Huawei gear in its 5G network.

Given that the Chinese regime is influencing New Zealand

'at every level of society',

It's pretty impressive that New Zealand

is coming out strong against the use of Huawei.

Number 2

Australia

Australia is also very concerned.

Back in August,

Australia banned Huawei

and another major Chinese telecom company, ZTE,

from building its 5G network.

The initial statement targeted firms

“who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions

from a foreign government,”

but did not mention Huawei or ZTE by name.

I mean, it could be about any company, amirite?

Except that it's pretty obvious,

and also an Australian government official told Reuters

that it was in fact targeted at Huawei and ZTE.

So Australia, also coming out strong.

Number 1

The United States

Amurica has always been number 1.

Especially when it comes to raising concerns over Huawei.

In fact, this whole case with Meng Wanzhou

came out of investigations into Huawei leadership

that the US government began way back in 2010.

And during those investigations

“F.B.I. agents grew concerned that company officers

were working on behalf of the Chinese government.”

Meanwhile US lawmakers have been calling Huawei

a security risk since at least 2012.

And laws restricting Huawei

from equipping government agencies

began in 2013.

Last year “six major U.S. intelligence heads—

including the FBI, CIA, and NSA—

warned Americans against using

products and services from Huawei.”

And the US has been pushing other countries to follow its lead.

And more of Huawei's shady dealings are coming to light,

like Poland arresting a Huawei executive

for spying right before we recorded this episode.

And more and more countries are beginning to pay attention.

So America:

We're number 1...

at blocking Huawei.

So what do you think about Huawei?

Should it be banned or allowed in your country?

And are you watching this on your Huawei phone?

Leave your comments below.

And don't forget to subscribe to China Uncensored

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But before you go.

Now it's the time when I answer a question

from a fan who makes China Uncensored possible

by contributing through the crowd funding website Patreon.

William Adderholdt asks,

“I was surprised to read in the newspapers

that the Chinese government forcibly suppressed observations

by Marxist student groups of Mao's December 26 birthday.

What is the government's official position on Marxism and Mao,

and what is their actual position?”

Haha, that's a good question.

In case you don't know,

November saw a pretty big crackdown

on student Marxist groups in major cities throughout China.

Now officially, the Chinese Communist Party

loves and venerates Marx and Mao and Lenin

and all the other greats of Communism.

Except for Stalin.

It's because of the mustache.

What is the Party's actual position on Marxism?

I would say that it's not that different

from their official position.

But the crackdown over the student Marxist groups

isn't over who believes in communism more,

the state or the students.

It's over the fact that only the Chinese Communist Party

is allowed to control communism in China.

If you're going to protest in China,

doing it in the name of Marxism won't protect you,

because you're organizing outside of the party-state.

In the end, communism was never about creating

a better, more equal world.

That was just a facade to convince the masses

to overthrow the elite,

and ultimately give power to a small group of

what turned out to be incredibly bad people.

Every country that implemented communism

quickly became a brutal authoritarian state.

So remember, the only people in communist China

who can talk about overthrowing the elite are...

the communist elite.

Thanks for the question William.

And if you'd to have a shot at getting

your question answered on the show,

sign up to become a member of the China Uncensored 50-cent army

by supporting the show with a dollar or more per episode

through the crowd funding website Patreon.

Thanks for watching China Uncensored.

Once again I'm Chris Chappell.

See you next time.