Huawei sues the US over equipment ban

Huawei Technologies has filed a lawsuit to sue the United States (US) government on Thursday over a law that bans government agencies from purchasing its equipment.

The Chinese telco equipment and smartphone maker plans to contest against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 889 of the legislation which bans government agencies from buying telco hardware made by Huawei and ZTE. The claim from Huawei is that the provision in the NDAA is against the US constitution.

The firm’s company lawyers also argued that Section 889 is unlawful because it violates Huawei's right to due process, which means the firm cannot hear the evidence against it and fight for itself in court.

Huawei claims the US is on a campaign with the aim to close Huawei out of Western markets for fear of Chinese espionage. The US has been persuading its allies against using Huawei gear. In August, Australia banned Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE Corp from supplying 5G equipment to its telecommunication operators, citing national security.

Mr Ren Zhengfei, founder and chief executive of Huawei has come forward in a rare retort to say that the firm has never and will never share data with the Chinese government.

Huawei’s CFO sues Canadian authorities on procedural wrongs

The lawsuit emerges while Mr Ren’s daughter and chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada’s government for procedural wrongs made during her arrest.

Ms Weng is suing Canadian authorities, alleging that her rights were violated when she was arrested and is seeking damages for ‘misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment’.

The attorneys representing Ms Meng, Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle, said the Huawei executive was improperly interrogated for three hours by customs officers, officially as part of a routine inspection, before being served with her official arrest. The search from customs officers on her phones, computers, and luggage also violated her rights.

The executive is set to attend her next court date on May 8th, where she faces charges including technology theft and defrauding banks to evade sanctions on Iran.

Ms Meng has been granted bail until the outcome of her trial, but the case could take up to months or years to settle.

Miss Meng’s arrest in December has angered China, drawing further tensions between the US and China as both parties are in the midst of ironing out their trade issues.

In mid-February, Mr Ren said his daughter’s arrest was politically motivated, and ‘not-acceptable’.