Tech giant Huawei has filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman regarding comments that negatively impact the Chinese company. Huawei claims that the EU has not yet responded to direct communications on this matter.

The economic dispute between China and the West is not only limited to a trade war with the USA, but there are also frequent disputes between China’s Huawei and the European Union. After direct complaints to the Union in this regard remained unanswered, Huawei is now turning to the European Ombudsman.

Reputation damage

Basically, it’s simply because Huawei is fed up with member states and prominent figures within the EU constantly portraying the company as unreliable. A speech by Thierry Breton on 5G security in June appeared to be the straw that broke China’s camel. The French EU Commissioner for the Internal Market described Huawei as a “high risk”.

Breton believes that EU members should restrict access to European networks for providers such as Huawei. The Chinese tech giant reportedly filed a complaint with the EU, but it has so far remained unanswered. Hence the contact with the European Ombudsman. This was confirmed to The Register by a Huawei spokesperson.

The complaint was also upheld by the Ombudsman, although it refers to “a telecommunications company”. The agency does not publish the names of the complainants.

Harmful reputation

Huawei has always denied that it poses a threat to Europe or any other region. It’s a guessing game, however, as Chinese companies that have direct ties to their government are the rule rather than the exception. For example, look at the distrust of TikTok.

As already mentioned, this is not the first time that Huawei and Europe have clashed. Last year, the Belgian secret service replaced its Wi-Fi hotspots from Huawei. Although in Europe, no longer in the EU, the UK has a ban on Huawei on its national 5G networks.