Why was Huawei targeted by the US? Is it the end of globalization?

First, how do countries develop and become rich? It is important to find the answer to this question. Then, one will automatically receive the answer to why the US targeted Huawei. The simple answer to the former question is to invest heavily in education, research, and innovation and ultimately create large brands to do business globally. China has done exactly that in the last three decades. The CCP, despite all the cruelty it can commit against people who try to challenge its authority, invested heavily in education. Now, the top Chinese universities are comparable to Western institutions. Primary education is accessible to all citizens. CCP has also attracted the best talent and allowed meritocracy to rise. 

Huawei is the perfect example of the Chinese people's hard work and perseverance in achieving greater heights as a nation. Just three years ago, Huawei posed a challenge to Apple and Samsung in manufacturing amazing mobile sets. In developing 5G technology, as per some Western analysts, Huawei is a decade ahead of its Western competitors, if not more. It would not have been surprising if Huawei had emerged as the world’s largest tech company, which has no match even in the West. There are many such Western companies. It is unimaginable that any Asian or African nation can create Airbus or Boeing or manufacture jet engines that the US and even a small country like France can build.

 

The US could not accept Huawei’s rise. It could not digest the fact that the Chinese company would lead one of the key technologies that would shape the modern world in the 21st century. Hence, the Western countries, led by the West, decided to strangulate Huawei. Google banned Huawei from using its Android operating system. Then, the US also blocked the sale of semiconductors to Huawei by Western companies. The Netherlands denied the supply of machines necessary to build chips.

 

Despite all Western bans, Chinese companies can remain truly global if they capture India’s vast market. China and India are home to 3 billion people, but CCP’s inability to manage its border dispute with India amicably led to India joining the West in curbing Western technology giants. India is an almost four trillion-dollar economy; sooner or later, it will join the big league and become a middle-income country, which would present opportunities for Chinese films to increase their revenue by billions. Why could China not foresee this? Why is India unable to see the future if the West succeeds in containing China’s economic rise?

It is very difficult to find people who can think in the world. Western societies' ability to think, foresee the future, plan, and solve problems is remarkable. It has been reflected in the innovation and scientific developments for the last four centuries. Almost all major achievements of humanity in the field of science are mostly located in the West. It can’t be a mere coincidence or an act of God. It is a result of human effort. Not only in science but in all other human endeavors as well, the progress of the West is remarkable. The ability of the Western education system to produce people who can produce logical arguments to sway the wider population is incomparable to anyone else. Anything creative Westerners are at the top whether it is literature, fundamental science, arts, painting, music, sports, making films, etc.

 

Unless someone is mad and believes in Nazi Eugenics, then the above fact is not a mere coincidence of human nature. It’s an outcome of the efforts of Western societies to plan. Though things are changing fast. Rather than investing and prioritizing what made them great, the Western powers have chosen to use dishonest means and confrontation. They are abusing their existing advantages to curtail human progress in key areas. For Asia and Africa to succeed, China must succeed and become a developed nation. Two decades ago, the Western discourse tried to convince the world that free trade and globalization are essential for everyone's progress. Now, protectionism is on the rise, and the US is trying to destroy the very system it created to protect its dominant position. Globalization, in its first phase, presented the opportunity for developing countries to catch up with the West. 

[Mukesh Devrari]