Huawei has denied claims made that over the years it has received as much as $75 billion in state support from the Chinese government.
The claims, published on Christmas Day by the Wall Street Journal, continue to underline the acrimonious relationship between Huawei and the US.
The company recently complaining that it was being subjected to cyberattacks and staff harassment by US authorities, despite repeatedly claiming its innocence.
Tax breaks
The WSJ claims that as well as claiming $46 billion in loans and credit as well as other direct state aid, Huawei’s work was also supplemented by tax breaks amounting to $25 billion. On top of these, land discounts of $2 billion were reported, along with $1.6 billion in other grants.
According to a response published by ZDnet, Huawei claims that any tax breaks and grants relate to $73 billion of research and development by the company. Additionally, it stated that it has not received preferential treatment by the Chinese government, and that Western companies establishing themselves in China have also received similar grants and tax breaks.
However, the US government is likely to take a dim view of the situation, especially due to its opposition to state aid coupled with its currently acrimonious dealings with Chinese manufacturers, with crippling tariffs on iPhones and other Chinese-made electronics averted at the last minute before Christmas.
Additionally, while Huawei has previously been declared a security risk by US intelligence due to perceived close connections between it and the Chinese government, similar accusations have previously been made against tech giants such as Google, which was known to have employed workers from US national security agencies.
Via ZDnet
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