“Google is a very responsible company. We have maintained very good cooperation with each other,” Liang said through a translator at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen, China. “We really look forward to productive results from the communication that Google is currently having with the Commerce Department.”
An outcry erupted when the Huawei ban first went into effect, and Google announced it would cut ties. Days later, the Trump administration said it would postpone parts of the ban until August.
The outsize power of American tech giants is understood the world over. Huawei’s Liang is now leaning on Google to influence the Commerce Department on his company’s behalf.
“We really hope that there are possible remedies coming out of the communication between Google and the Commerce Department,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know details of the talks. “We think that it is in the benefit of the consumers if they could work out a solution.”
Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration in May added Huawei to a list of banned entities. American companies — from mobile providers to chipmakers like Intel and Qualcomm — will not be allowed to do business with Huawei. That’s because, according to U.S. officials, the company’s technology could be used for surveillance.
If a resolution isn’t reached, Liang said, Huawei will have to build its own software, which would be “difficult.”
In an email, a Google spokesperson said the company was engaging with the Department of Commerce to ensure they’re in compliance with its requirements and temporary license.
“Our focus is protecting the security of Google users on the millions of existing Huawei handsets in the U.S. and around the world today and going forward,” the spokesperson said.
The company declined to say whether its talks with the government have included directly or indirectly advocating for the ability to support future Huawei devices.