Don’t believe everything you hear

Image: David Ramos/Getty Images

Faced with the U.S. government’s accusations of being a spy threat, Huawei has decided to fight back. 

On Thursday, the company published a full-page ad in the paper edition of The Wall Street Journal, inviting the U.S. media to “come and see us.”

The ad, signed by Huawei’s Board Director Catherine Chen, starts by praising the U.S. for innovation, but claims the U.S. government has in recent years developed “some misunderstandings” about Huawei.  

The ad lists some of Huawei’s accomplishments, including 30 years of expertise in building telecommunications equipment, the company’s work in establishing comms networks following major disasters around the world, and its university research programs in the U.S. 

Finally, the ad openly invites members of the U.S. media to “visit our campuses and meet our employees.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear. Come and see us. We look forward to meeting you,” the ad concludes. 

“Don’t believe everything you hear. Come and see us. We look forward to meeting you.”

In a recent interview, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said there was “no way the U.S. can crush us.” But the new ad takes a far more mild-mannered approach by speaking about openness and inclusion. It does not address the U.S. government’s concerns over potential spying directly, though Huawei recently told Mashable that it has “never been asked to engage in intelligence work on behalf of any government,” claiming that it would rather “shut down” than “maliciously violate the trust of our customers.”

Besides spying concerns, Huawei has also been accused of fraud and money laundering, with the company’s CFO Wanzhou Meng, who was arrested in Canada in December 2018, facing extradition to the U.S. 

Some countries, including Australia and New Zealand, followed the U.S. example by barring their government agencies from using Huawei’s 5G equipment. Germany and the UK, however, seem far more reluctant to do so. 

On the consumer-facing end of things, it was business as usual for Huawei during this week’s Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. The company showed off new laptops, a foldable phone prototype, and announced its new smartphone flagship reveal for late March.