Telecom wars update — Global Times staff are all ZTE tonight!
Business & Technology
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce banned American companies from selling components to ZTE, one of China’s big two telecom hardware companies. The saga continues:
- The ZTE ban may affect more than hardware: ZTE may not be able to use the Android operating system in its phones, “a source familiar with the matter said,” according to CNBC.
- Editor of nationalistic rag Global Times Hu Xijin 胡锡进 posted a note of defiance to his Weibo account (in Chinese): “ZTE must be more brave, more aggressive, and must not fail. I pay tribute to the 80,000 employees of ZTE. Old Hu [he refers to himself in the third person] and the Global Times staff are all ZTE tonight!”
- American regulators are still on the warpath: “The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to move forward with a plan that would prevent federally subsidized telecommunications carriers from using suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security,” reports the New York Times. The obvious targets are Huawei and ZTE.
- Huawei “plans to refocus on existing markets…as the technology industry gets caught up in the spiraling trade spat,” says the Wall Street Journal (paywall), noting that the company “has laid off five U.S.-based employees, including its top spokesman in Washington.”
