The remarks were "somewhat preemptive," said Carisa Nietsche, a researcher at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
But there is "the beginning of a radical change in Europe," said Nietsche.
European countries and mobile operators are now concerned that Huawei may not be able to provide 5G infrastructure as promised given the "blow to their business" of new export controls in the United States, a- she declared.
Huawei's 5G activity in "serious danger"
Huawei has been here before. Last year, the U.S. government banned U.S. companies from selling technology and supplies to the Shenzhen-based company without first obtaining a license to do so. Huawei has stockpiled inventory and found alternative suppliers, and as a result, has continued to do vigorous business despite the U.S. ban. The company's overseas smartphone sales took a hit, however, as it was forced to release new models that couldn't access popular Google apps.
However, even after announcing a solid finish for 2019, Huawei warned that 2020 would be "difficult".
This would prove to be too true.
The last American sanction announced in May goes much furtherthan last year's ban. It applies to all global companies using American equipment to manufacture semiconductors. The new rule prevents companies like TSMC, a Taiwan-based company, from exporting computer chipsets and other key components to Huawei.
Without these chipsets, Huawei cannot build 5G base stations and other equipment, according to analysts at brokerage firm Jefferies.
"Based on the current direct export rule imposed by the United States, I really think that Huawei's 5G equipment sector is in serious danger," said Jefferies analyst Edison Lee in a recent appeal to investors.
"If the law does not change, and if the Chinese-American tension does not defuse, then I think there is a big risk that Huawei will stop being able to provide 5G equipment" from the beginning of next year , he added.
Asked to comment on the story, Huawei spokeswoman Evita Cao said, "We continue to receive support from our customers," without going into details.
The companysaid in May that he "categorically opposes" the latest US sanction, calling the new rule "discriminatory".
"This will have a serious impact on a large number of global industries" and will hinder "collaboration within the global semiconductor industry," Huawei said in a statement. "We hope that our activity will inevitably be affected," he added.
This may already be happening in the UK.
On Saturday, the British newspaper Telegraph announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was about to start phasing out Huawei 5G technology in Britain "this year", reversing a decision that gave Huawei a limited role in the construction of this network.
Earlier last week, Oliver Dowden, the country's digital and media secretary, said the US sanctions "will likely have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider of the 5G network."
"I am not sinophobic, I will not be attracted to sinophobia," said Johnson on Tuesday. But "I want our critical national infrastructure to be properly protected from hostile state sellers, so we need to find that balance."
Huawei said earlier this year that it has won 91 5G commercial contracts, more than half (47) in Europe, 27 in Asia and 17 elsewhere in the world.
Tensions in China
The United States has long viewed Huawei with suspicion, suspecting how closely the company is linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The company maintains that it is a private company owned by thousands of its employees.
Critics also say that Beijing could force Huawei to spy on other countries. Huawei says it never happened and that if it did, the company would refuse such orders.
Yet even as it claims independence from Beijing, Huawei has been overtaken by fighting between China and the United States, and increasingly, the European Union and countries like India who are wary of more and more from China.
The coronavirus pandemic has only strengthened relationships. Some countries, such as the United States, have blamed China for the epidemic, and others have been put off by what they see as Beijing's aggressive response to criticism.
There was a time during the pandemic "when China was able to assert itself on the world stage as a leader, and I think they escaped it", especially in Europe, after China has sent questionable quality masks and respirators to countries with epidemics, said Nietsche.
EU countries are concerned about their unbalanced trade and investment relationship with China, and have taken steps in recent months to prevent subsidized Chinese companies from taking control of block industrial champions or winning contracts public. Another major concern is Beijing's crackdown on the Uighur ethnic minority in northwestern Xinjiang province.
There are now "excellent signals" from Germany and the United Kingdom "that they will move to exclude or at least remove Huawei from the heart [5G] network, "said Nietsche. Germany, for example, is closely examining Huawei's data streams to see if the company is breaking European laws," she said.
India, for its part, was going back and forth about whether to include Huawei equipment in the country's 5G network, said Chaitanya Giri, an analyst with the Indian foreign policy think tank Gateway House. Huawei received the green light to participate in 5G testing late last year.
But tensions between New Delhi and Beijing have increased dramatically in recent weeks after at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in border clashes with Chinese troops stationed in the Himalayas. China has also been recognized in India for its responsibility in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Giri.
Some Indians have called for a boycott of Chinese products. And in a move widely seen as retaliation against China, the Indian government last week banned TikTok and several other Chinese apps, saying they pose a "threat to sovereignty and integrity".
Huawei could now be caught in escalating tensions, according to Giri. Public sentiment is now "consolidated, that we are not going to use any of the Chinese equipment," he said.
According to Giri, what Europe and India share is a growing sense of unease after years of substantial investment from China.
"The great democracies are currently singing in unison," he said. "They understand what is at stake."
