Is it ethical for a U.S. firm to represent a Chinese telecom with ties to repressive regimes?

Posted by smorgante on 04/26/2012

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, has called out a Washington, DC lobbying firm for representing Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant. Citing Huawei’s close ties to Chinese political and military leadership, Wolf called on the firm of Sidley Austin to drop their relationship with the company.

His letter reads, in part:

Huawei has also been a leading supplier of critical telecom services to some of the worst regimes around the world. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei "now dominates Iran's government-controlled mobile-phone industry ... it plays a role in enabling Iran's state security network." And given the president's April 23 executive order addressing entities that are providing Iran and Syria with technologies to repress their people, I would think representing Huawei would give you further pause.

Read the full story here.

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