Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

HUAWEI filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday as part of the process to challenge the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (2019 NDAA).

It also called on the U.S. Government to halt its state-sanctioned campaign against Huawei on grounds it will not deliver cyber security.

“Banning Huawei using cyber security as an excuse will do nothing to make networks more secure. They provide a false sense of security and distract attention from the real challenges we face,” Song Liuping, Huawei’s chief legal officer, said at a news conference in its headquarters in Shenzhen yesterday.

“Politicians in the U.S. are using the strength of an entire nation to come after a private company. This is not normal, almost never seen in history,” Song said.

In the complaint, Huawei argues that Section 889 of 2019 NDAA singles out Huawei by name and not only bars U.S. government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services — even if there is no impact or connection to the U.S. Government.

Song also said the addition of Huawei to the Entity List by the U.S. Commerce Department set a dangerous precedent. This decision threatens to harm Huawei customers in over 170 countries, including more than 3 billion consumers who use Huawei products and services around the world.

By filing the motion, Song hopes the court will issue a judgment in the fastest and most efficient way, declare restrictions on Huawei as unconstitutional, and stop the enforcement of related sections.

The new motion is an update of Huawei’s lawsuit against section 889 of the NDAA that commenced in March, when the company sued the U.S. Government by alleging the ban against government agencies from buying the Chinese company’s networking equipment was unconstitutional.

“The judicial system is the last line of defense for justice. Huawei has confidence in the independence and integrity of the U.S. judicial system. We hope that mistakes in the NDAA can be corrected by the court,” Song said.

Glen Nager, Huawei’s lead counsel for the case, said Section 889 on the 2019 NDAA violates bill of attainder, due process and the Vesting Clauses rules of the U.S. Constitution. Thus the case is purely “a matter of law” as there are no facts at issue, thereby justifying the motion for a summary judgment to expedite the process.

A court hearing on the motion is set for Sept. 19.