Focusing on Huawei may appear, at first glance, to be a narrow lens. After all, the company makes telecom gear that its critics can buy elsewhere. But what happens to Huawei matters—for China and the world. One of Beijing’s top goals is transforming China into a technology powerhouse able to innovate and control the vital know-how powering future industries, and to free itself from, and then challenge, the United States. Huawei, as one of China’s most prominent global enterprises, will be a key part of that quest. Hence, its problems are China’s problems, and the fate of the company could foreshadow the fate of the country.
