What could be the ripple effects of U.S. ban on Huawei?
World Insight with Tian Wei
["china"]
03:20
On May 15th, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars equipment from companies deemed a national security threat to be used by American telecom networks. Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said it would add Huawei and its affiliates to a blacklist, restricting its ability to purchase parts from American suppliers.
Specifically, Huawei and its affiliates will be placed on the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List, which makes it difficult or impossible for American companies to sell components to the Chinese telecom giant.
In response, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on May 16 that the United States should avoid increasing China-U.S. trade tensions.
Amid overseas pressure, Huawei released its first AI-native database in Beijing. 
CGTN Senior Correspondent Tian Wei talked to a group of panelists about the implications of recent U.S.-policies to contain Huawei's activity. 
Shen Yi, researcher at the Center for Communication and State Governance Research at Shanghai's Fudan University, said it is necessary to view the problem from two sides, "It is a double-edged sword. For Huawei, of course, it raises obstacles and threats to the supply chain. But we all know Huawei already declared that it has systems to ensure the supply chain security."
On the other hand, Shen raised the question of which company will need those high-tech components if American companies cannot sell them to Huawei. The U.S. has to consider who has enough technical capacity to buy those components and build them into effective 5G telecommunication production, which can bring benefits to the U.S. After all, if the Entity List is effective, it is not only harming Huawei but also the U.S.'s supply chain.
In addition to its own chips, Huawei has the core capabilities to build an operating system.  /VCG Photo

In addition to its own chips, Huawei has the core capabilities to build an operating system.  /VCG Photo

In an official statement, the Shenzhen-based company said that restricting Huawei will not make the U.S. safer and stronger, but instead will only make America's 5G development lag behind, as the country will be forced to buy non-Huawei equipment that is expensive and poorly made.  
When it comes to the topic of the global supply chain, non-resident fellow of the Center for China and Globalization, Andy Mok, admitted that "drama" is a great word to describe the whole thing. He said people are recognizing that Huawei is a cost leader, so by excluding Huawei from the U.S. market, the U.S. will fall behind in 5G if they are blocked from selling to Huawei.
"Huawei is a growing company. If U.S. companies miss out on that, it is not a drama but a tragedy," Mok said.
Ernest McDuffie, founder of the global McDuffie Group, considered the current challenges Huawei is facing a real opportunity for leadership at the international level to address the global supply chain security issue.
"This is so much broader than Huawei and 5G. It is really going to (affect) probably 80 percent or 90 percent of the economy globally," he said.
McDuffie added that trust and control are both needed  – trust the international business relations of Huawei, but at the same time address national security concerns.
"So it doesn't do any good for the U.S. to isolate itself, and it doesn't do any good for any particular country to isolate itself from the global market," he said, adding that "Huawei is going to flourish and continue to flourish. But we have to find a way to deal with the issue on global supply chain security."
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