How Huawei wooed Europe

In Britain, the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei donated to top schools, held parties for political leaders and sponsored a charity founded by Prince Charles. In Germany, it sponsored the recent convention of the governing Christian Democratic Union.

Europe is now Huawei’s biggest market outside China, generating $20 billion in revenue together with the Middle East and Africa in 2017 — about a quarter of its total business. That’s the result of a 15-year campaign to cultivate closer ties with European governments.

Why it matters: Europe, like the U.S., is now beginning to turn on Huawei over concerns that its technology is being used for espionage. The U.S. plans to ask Canada to extradite a top Huawei executive within the next week. European officials are considering restrictions, companies are reassessing deals and organizations are returning donations.

But untangling may be difficult, as Huawei’s equipment plays a crucial role in Europe’s wireless infrastructure. Severing ties could delay hyperfast 5G networks.

Huawei’s response: The company has consistently denied wrongdoing. But as criticism mounts, it is working to ease concerns, including by allowing German officials to inspect its engineering and code.