Huawei’s global woes continue to intensify this week.
Hot on the heels of Canada’s arrest of the company’s chief technology officer, reports are now swirling that the Japanese government plans to stop purchases of Huawei equipment, along with that of other Chinese companies like ZTE.
Huawei is already blocked from selling its equipment in the US, while Australia and New Zealand won’t let it build 5G networks, over fears of Chinese government-led intelligence leaks.
A number of governments around the world fear that Chinese technology companies are used by government to spy on them.
It’s thought that the Japanese government could reframe its internal procurement rules next week, to exclude Huawei and ZTE.
It’s not yet clear how this will affect commercial deals between private companies and the Chinese tech suppliers.
Meanwhile, the bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief technology officer and daughter of the company’s founder, should get underway in Canada today. It is believed she may face extradition to the US.