China’s Huawei sues America

Tech giant Huawei on Thursday opened a legal front in its counter-offensive against US warnings that it could aid Chinese intelligence services, filing suit to overturn a US law that bars federal agencies from buying its products.

Huawei said the case was filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, challenging what it called an "unconstitutional" 2019 defence bill that prevents government agencies from buying its equipment, services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The move may send a global signal that Huawei is willing to use all means, including national courts, to prevent exclusion from a race to the 5G market -- the future of high-speed telecommunications.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping said.

Guo added the company was seeking unspecified damages. "The US government is sparing no effort to smear the company," he said at a news conference at Huawei’s corporate headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Guo also said the US government "has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and source code", without providing details. Washington has long considered Huawei a potential threat due to the background of founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.

The concerns have escalated as Huawei has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers alongside Samsung and Apple. A law recently enacted by Beijing that obliges Chinese companies to aid the government on national security has added to the concerns.

Huawei’s lawsuit targets an "unconstitutional exercise of executive and/or judicial power" that deprived it of a "fair hearing" to rebut allegations against it. It also says the National Defense Authorization Act violates a bill of attainder clause by "singling out Huawei for punishment".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing that it was "entirely legitimate and understandable for enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal means". He said Beijing had issued an official protest against the defence bill’s "negative content concerning China".