Huawei makes the pipes and cables that power the Chinese internet. Its global reach has made China into a superpower.
Huawei is often accused of spying for China. But how was the US so sure that Huawei’s technology could be used for spying? Because they had already hacked it and were using it to spy themselves.
That’s not even the strangest episode in the company’s history. Its installations were bombed by the UK and US in Iraq before 9/11. In 2018, its infrastructure allegedly pinged back the secrets of the Africa Union to China overnight. And it now stands accused of doing business in Iran.
Eva Dou is the author of the deeply researched House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company.
She spoke to Richard Hames about the geopolitics of telecommunications, how Huawei made China into a global superpower, and whether or not Huawei is, in fact, a wing of the Chinese state.
0:00 Intro
3:57 Huawei’s Current Legal Battle
14:14 Huawei & Espionage
24:34 Huawei in Africa and Iraq
33:07 The Great Firewall and Tech Rivalry
46:40 The Mysterious CEO: Ren Zhengfei and Shenzhen
55:04 Who Owns Huawei?
1:03:09 How Tiananmen Square Changed Chinese Tech
1:11:19 AI and Microchips
1:19:46 Sanctions, the UK and Huawei’s future
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