Guo Ping's Speech on the Huawei Press Conference on March 7, 2019
Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here.
Today Huawei announced it has filed a lawsuit against the US government, to challenge the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, or "NDAA". Huawei seeks remedies including a declaratory judgment that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction against these restrictions.
The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. After exhausting all other means to allay the doubts of some U.S. lawmakers, we are left with no choice but to challenge the law in court. This ban not only is unlawful, but also harms both Huawei and US consumers.
Huawei operates in more than 170 countries and regions. As a leading global technology provider, Huawei has always taken its responsibilities seriously, specifically, the responsibility to make secure equipment that meets industry standards. For three decades, we have maintained a solid track record in cyber security. Huawei has not and will never implant backdoors. We will never allow others to install any in our equipment.
The U.S. Government has long branded Huawei a threat. It has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and source code. Despite this, the U.S. Government has never provided any evidence supporting their accusations that Huawei poses a cyber security threat. Still, the U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public about Huawei. Even worse, the U.S. Government is trying to block us from the 5G markets in other countries.
Huawei has invested significantly to become the global leader of 5G. Given that the United States has never presented any evidence to substantiate its security allegations, we question its intent of not wanting other countries to use Huawei: is it afraid that other countries may catch up to and overtake it using our advanced 5G technologies?
Maybe the U.S. Government incorrectly believes it would benefit from the suppression of Huawei. But the truth is, restricting Huawei's contributions to American and other nations' 5G networks will only harm their national interests. Faster 5G network deployment can benefit all countries.
Regrettably, the NDAA was enacted to restrict Huawei without giving us an opportunity to defend ourselves.
Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA prevents us from serving our U.S. customers, damages our reputation, and deprives us of opportunities to serve customers outside the United States. It is an abuse of the U.S. lawmaking process. This section strips Huawei of its due process, violates the separation-of-power principle, breaks U.S. legal traditions, and goes against the very nature of the Constitution. Section 889 infringes upon our rights and harms U.S. consumers. In enacting the NDAA, Congress acted unconstitutionally as judge, jury and executioner.
Other countries are rightly resisting the U.S. Government's campaign against Huawei, and the U.S. President himself has recently questioned using artificial security reasons to block Huawei. If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the U.S. Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues.
We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people.
Thank you！
