The soccer player ends cooperation with the Chinese telecommunications group Huawei.
(Photo: Reuters)
Beijing FC Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski announced on Tuesday that he would part with his sponsor Huawei. The reason given by Polish media is the business of the Chinese network supplier in Russia. According to a report by the British tabloid “Daily Mail”, Huawei is said to have helped Russia to repair the Internet infrastructure that had been disrupted after a hacker attack.
The newspaper refers to reports in Chinese online media that have since been deleted. In a statement to the AFP news agency, the Polish Huawei subsidiary described the reports as “fake news”. A request from the Handelsblatt remained unanswered until the evening Beijing time. Western IT equipment makers like Ericsson and Nokia have halted supplies to Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Huawei has been present in Russia since the 1990s. The Chinese group has benefited massively in recent years from the fact that the Russian government wants to reduce its dependence on Western technologies.
For example, Huawei is cooperating with the state-owned Russian telecommunications group Rostelecom. In 2019, Huawei struck an agreement with MTS, Russia’s largest mobile operator, to launch commercial 5G services in the country. The deal came shortly after the US Department of Commerce blacklisted Huawei. Since then, companies operating in the US have been banned from working with the group.
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At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the embargo and US policy. It is “a road to endless conflict, trade wars and maybe not just trade wars. Figuratively speaking, it’s a path to no-rules battles, pitting everyone against everyone,” he said.
China’s leaders condemn sanctions against Russia
The Polish international Lewandowski has been a Huawei brand ambassador since 2015, first in his home country and most recently globally. In Poland, criticism of China’s positioning alongside Russia has grown louder in recent weeks. Protests broke out in front of the Chinese embassy in Warsaw on Monday.
China’s leaders refuse to label the Russian invasion of Ukraine as such and have repeatedly condemned sanctions against Russia, calling them “illegal”. At a press conference just yesterday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized the importance of the relationship with Russia and cooperation with the partner.
Read about this: How China supports Russia in the middle of the conflict
However, Huawei is also active in Ukraine. The IT supplier made a significant contribution to the expansion of the 2G and 3G network in the country. According to Reuters news agency, Huawei was also selected in 2020 to ensure and improve cyber defense and cyber security in Ukraine. The latter, however, met with a lack of understanding from the country’s western partners.
Many Western countries have excluded Huawei from the critical telecommunications infrastructure for security reasons and concerns about manipulation. The company is said to be close to the ruling Communist Party. Founder Ren Zhengfei was a member of an IT unit of the People’s Liberation Army before founding Huawei. According to The Wall Street Journal, Huawei has received more than $75 billion in subsidies in the past to become the world’s leading telecommunications company. Huawei has denied this number.
The US sanctions are making the group difficult to create. Sales in the important smartphone business have collapsed. According to Huawei, none of the remaining business areas will be able to compensate for this in the foreseeable future. Most recently, the group had announced that it would increasingly focus on the renewable energies business.
More: Protective shield against sanctions – How China could save the Russian financial system