Mexico should rethink its dangerous partnerships with Chinese telecoms

Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant banned in the U.S. and Europe, seeks to strengthen ties with Mexico. In recent months, Mexico’s secretary of Science and Technology, secretary of Energy, Anti-Corruption secretary and members of the Mexican Senate have held key meetings with senior executives from the Chinese firm.

The new head of Huawei Mexico, David Tao, has made it clear that the company wants to deepen and expand their operations in telecommunications, power grids and artificial intelligence.

During the last two decades, Huawei has generated bipartisan concern in America. The company has been charged with allegations including espionage, racketeering and conspiracy to steal American trade secrets. Huawei has denied this and other allegations against it. 

Despite this background, Huawei has increased its growth fivefold in Mexico since 2022, has invested $64 million in the country and has installed a technical support center that covers Mexico and Latin America.  

Mexico — America’s neighbor and largest trading partner — has also welcomed a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, Unicom, offering it a broad license to operate freely for 30 years. Huawei and Unicom maintain close cooperation in promoting AI in sectors such as government and manufacturing in........

© The Hill