HONG KONG – The latest U.S. sanctions on Huawei threaten to devastate China’s first global tech competitor, escalating a feud with Beijing that could disrupt technology industries worldwide.
Huawei Technologies Ltd. is one of the world’s biggest producers of smartphones and network equipment, but that business is in jeopardy after Washington announced restrictions on use of American technology by foreign companies that produce its processor chips.
The conflict is politically fraught because Huawei is more than just China’s most successful private company. It is a national champion among industries the ruling Communist Party is pushing to develop in hopes of transforming China into a global competitor in profitable technologies.