World Trade War I: US Asks South Korea To Join Anti-Huawei Campaign

The bilateral trade war between the US and China is gradually becoming a global trade war of global geopolitical and commercial dominance between the US and Chinese spheres of influence.

Shortly after the two largest mobile phone companies in the UK decided against launching Huawei-built 5G phones this morning, and roughly around the time a bevy of Japanese tech and telecom companies including ARM Holdings, Panasonic and SoftBank all imposed a boycott on supplying Huawei with mission critical components joining Australia, and New Zealand as major US allies to end commercial relations with Huawei following the US decision to crack down on the Chinese telecom giant (see "Huawei Feels U.S. Squeeze in U.K., Japan as Partners Curb Business") the White House is now pressuring another critical Chinese trading partner - South Korea - to cease ties with Huawei.

According to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, the US recently asked South Korean government to support and join its anti-Huawei campaign.

Forcing Seoul to pick sides in a fight it would rather stay out of - especially since both sides still bear a distinct grudge from the Korean war - the US delivered a message several times to S. Korea’s Foreign Ministry that "using Huawei products may cause security problems" and as a result, the US requested S. Korea’s "active" support of US policy toward China as South Korea is seen as an American ally.

Read the entire article