Yet another chapter is being added to the Huawei vs US saga, this time courtesy of WSJ. According to them, Huawei’s rise to the top of global telecommunications was fueled by tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance from the Chinese government, a scale of support that in key measures dwarfed what its closest rivals got from their governments.
In fact, according to the piece published by WSJ, Huawei reportedly had “access to as much as $75 billion in state support.” That massive figure is culled from poring over various forms, including grants and tax breaks.
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Huawei Technologies said on Thursday that its relationship with the Chinese government was “no different” from any other private company operating in China. This should be no surprise as Huawei has long denied close links with the Chinese government and maintained that Washington has no evidence to support accusations of spying.
Huawei also disputes The Wall Street Journal allegation that it had received as much as 75 billion dollars in assistance from the Chinese government. The article says state support helped Huawei “undercut rivals,” but says nothing about tax breaks for U.S. tech companies. Amazon, for example, is paying zero taxes for a second consecutive year.
“Like other tech companies that operate in China, including those from abroad, Huawei receives some policy support from the Chinese government,” Karl Song, vice-president of the company’s corporate communications department, said in a statement. “But we have never received any additional or special treatment.”
In the statement on Thursday, Song said the company’s working capital primarily comes from its own business operations – which make up 90 per cent of its working capital – and external financing rather than government subsidies. “Huawei’s external financing follows all market rules, and our cost of debt aligns with market standards,” Song added.
