House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company

Washington Post journalist Dou debuts with a probing history of the Huawei Technologies Company’s rise from telephone switch–maker to preeminent global purveyor of digital networking equipment, smart phones, and surveillance systems. Her narrative centers on Huawei’s aphorism-spouting founder Ren Zhengfei, who demanded maniacal overwork (leading to a rash of executive suicides) and a “wolf culture” among the company’s salespeople (causing them to frequently resort to bribery to get contracts). Huawei also benefited, Dou contends, from the Chinese government’s preferential treatment, with government-backed loans and diplomatic support abroad. (Chinese officials threatened to cut off aid to Kenya when the Kenyan government tried to cancel a contract with Huawei.) Huawei has also been accused of putting “back doors” in its software for Chinese intelligence agencies (leading Western countries to ban Huawei from building 5G networks or buying advanced chip technology) and of selling surveillance systems that monitor and censor dissidents to foreign governments (including Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions, leading to the 2018 arrest of Zhengfei’s daughter in Canada). Dou’s account revealss that Huawei’s corporate skullduggery was typical for both Chinese business culture and the global digital sector. (The U.S. government knew that Chinese intelligence agencies could hack into Huawei networks to spy on people because the NSA hacked into them to do the same.) This casts a shrewd spotlight on a global technology sector where everyone seems to be spying on everything. (Jan.)