back to article GOP lawmakers ask for former Huawei handset biz Honor to be placed the Entity List

Nine months after Huawei sold off smartphone subsidiary Honor due to "tremendous" supply chain pressure, Republican lawmakers in the US are seeking to put the squeeze back on the low-end handset biz. A 14-member GOP Congresscritter group that calls itself the "China Task Force" wrote to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo [PDF] …

  1. Tron Silver badge

    A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

    Biden is just Trump with a different hat. Throw the Afghans under a bus and ban competitors.

    No 5G won't be a problem for anyone for a few years. It's just a battery drain looking for a raison d'etre.

    They are theoretically stuffed without Android, but should really have developed or reverse engineered a fix by now. There are several options, and its not like they don't have the cash.

    On the plus side, a phone without dozens of Google apps you never use endlessly updating themselves is no bad thing.

    Ideally we need a benign and trustworthy phone manufacturer who makes good design and security decisions and listens to users. Just like we need honest politicians.

    In the meantime, your privacy-focused device will be auto-scanning your content, to protect children, women, small furry animals, and whichever Glorious Leader you live under the thumb of.

    1. Gordon 10
      Trollface

      Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

      "benign and trustworthy phone manufacturer who makes good design and security decisions and listens to users"

      Apple springs to mind.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5hWWe-ts2s

      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

        Perfect example. The company that checks your phone for what it thinks are iffy pics and reports them to the police.

        Just what we need.

      2. BloggsyMaloan

        Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

        >>"benign and trustworthy phone manufacturer who makes

        >>good design and security decisions and listens to users"

        >Apple springs to mind.

        It's a mind, Jim, but not as we know it.

    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: Biden is just Trump with a different hat

      I don't think so, at least, not entirely.

      He does not appear to be a neo-Nazi sympathizer, not does he appear to be a despicable idiot rambling incoherently when asked a question.

      He answers questions, sometimes directly, but generally without hesitation.

      He also knows how to stand up properly.

      Oh and, incidentally, he takes decisions that actually benefit the US citizens that don't have a billion in their bank account.

    3. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

      I'm curious, exactly what would you have had the US do about Afghanistan? Should we have occupied it forever, because that's really the only way of preventing the Taliban from taking over. If they aren't ready to handle their own government after 20 years, they never will be. The US should have pulled out long ago, but I guess there was false hope for far too long that if we just held out a year or two longer they would be able to govern themselves effectively and maintain security for their people.

      I have a lot of sympathy for the Afghani people, they've been screwed by empires and wanna be empires for centuries, the US occupation is just the latest in a long line of injustices done to that country. I'm not sure what the right answer is, but I know it is not to continue to try to force them to live the way we think they should. Hopefully they are eventually able to fight back the Taliban, but I expect that will probably only happen with the "help" of another country, and that help will come at a price like the "help" the US provided.

      Maybe with enough black eyes where we leave things no better than we found them despite investing trillions in resources voters in the US will push back hard against politicians who try to embroil us in the next forever war. Or continue to build up a military designed for worldwide "force projection" where that is the only possible outcome. While I don't like trade wars, I'd much rather have those than the kind that cost lives and bring home 20 year old kids with lifelong PTSD.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

        >bring home 20 year old kids with lifelong PTSD.

        Make it a volunteer army.

        Anybody who wants the US to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan simply has to call in at the local army base and arrange to be sent there. It would remove this silly age discrimination where 60 year olds aren't allowed to have their patriotism recognised

        1. DS999 Silver badge

          Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

          What happens if not enough people volunteer? When the force falls below a certain level that's the trigger to pull out? And I'm not sure exactly how occupying another country by force is "patriotism" in the US, but you do you.

          Would this apply everywhere? If Cuban Americans want the US to take back their country, and enough of them were willing to sign up, does that act as a signal to begin the invasion?

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

            >What happens if not enough people volunteer? When the force falls below a certain level that's the trigger to pull out?

            No that's the trigger to send in a film crew to do a blockbuster movie about the heroic last stand of Chuck the last man in Afghanistan

            Although it might be easier to just do in CGI.

            In fact it may be easier and cheaper to do the entire war in CGI. Instead of killing lots of people, spending $Tn, achieving nothing and then 20years later making a movie about how sad your soldiers were - just shoot the entire war in Holywood

          2. gandalfcn Silver badge

            Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

            It was obviously a piss take. And yes Septics do believe invading other countries is patriotic. As do many Brits.

            Your comment about Cuba is apt, because that is exactly what many GOPers want to happen.

        2. gandalfcn Silver badge

          Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

          Seems you perfectly sensible suggestion ruffled a few fascist feathers.

      2. gandalfcn Silver badge

        Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

        The UK started the First Afghan War in November 1878, for political reasons, and got hammered over the next 40 years, as have all who intervened including the Russian Empire and the USSR. On the other hand China and then the PRC kept well out if it. What is sad is all the hypocritical virtue signaling about Uighurs when the West has, and is still killing and torturing so many Muslims and has destroyed their countries' economies leading to starvation, poverty and thousands of immigrants. I suspect most Uighurs prefer what they have to what the West would do to them.

    4. gandalfcn Silver badge

      Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

      "Throw the Afghans under a bus" No, they were thrown under the bus when the USA decided to finance and arm rebels in 1979. As various civil wars ensued the USA continued to fund and arm factions culminating in the US led invasion on 2001. Try reading about Operation Cyclone.

      i'll ignore the rest of your post given you obviously know little but shout a lot.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

        But you have to admit that the USA and AQ have been successful in keeping the Soviets out. There is very little chance of Afghanistan becoming part of the USSR.

        And of course this will stop the czar from invading our empire in India

        1. gandalfcn Silver badge

          Re: A seamless transition from Trump to Biden.

          Nice piss take, but the soviets realised it was a total waste of time and money, as we did decades earlier. What I'm surprised about is the absence of the usual strident hissy fits about the PRC. But maybe FoxNews and the Mail haven't been providing all the information. How unusual.

  2. batfink

    Gotta love it

    Ah, competition restraint under the guise of national security - what's not to like?

    1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Re: Gotta love it

      "competition"? How can you compete with companies that use forced labour?

      It's like calling ban on athletes using illegal performance enhancing drugs a competition restraint.

      Come on...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Gotta love it

        In the far east : Forced labour / In the west : minimum wage zero hour contract

        Difference?

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Gotta love it

          >In the far east : Forced labour / In the west : minimum wage zero hour contract

          >Difference?

          The forced labour get healthcare ?

      2. batfink

        Re: Gotta love it

        There's also the US companies using the (world's largest) prison population there as labour for profit, while paying the prisoners miniscule wages. I believe that in some states it's ~60c/day, but I'd have to look it up. Frankly I don't see a lot of difference between that and the Chinese forced labour system, and they will both use the same excuses.

        However, in the US, forced labour for prisoners is explicitly permitted under the 13th Amendment. So that's ok then. There's no chance of a nice racket developing to keep prisoner numbers up.

        To be clear here: I'm not necessarily objecting to prisoners working, but I do find the idea of companies using it as cheap labour to make better profits of the back of it abhorrent - no matter what country it's in.

        1. DS999 Silver badge

          Re: Gotta love it

          I think a law mandating that prison labor could only be used for a public purpose would help a lot. If their labor can't be used to line the pockets of a private business owner, there is a lot less room for abuse, and less incentive to further increase the number of prisoners (with the other reform being that state and federal prisons can't outsource any part of their operation to a private company)

          1. gandalfcn Silver badge

            Re: Gotta love it

            As the United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceration rate someone is making rather a lot of money from forced domestic labour. It also bef=gs the question, why are so many people in prison? Because the USA is a screwed up society.

      3. gandalfcn Silver badge

        Re: Gotta love it

        Doesn't the USA used forced labour as well, both af home in prisons and abroad as well. How many US outfits manufacture / assemble products in the PRC. Vietnam, the 'Pines and so on?

  3. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    One company

    Do they not know that all Chinese companies are de-facto state owned?

    There is of course that theatre for the west to make these companies appear as legitimate enterprises on par with western corporations, but this is just for a show.

    The US and the West should ban all devices from China and then pull any manufacturing.

    We shouldn't support a country that engages in genocide and other crimes against humanity.

    1. Marki Mark
      Devil

      Re: One company

      And all western companies are pure and good?

      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

        And all companies in the USA are not subject to National Security letters which they can tell no one about ?

      2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

        Re: One company

        And all western companies are pure and good?

        Try harder my friend.

        1. gandalfcn Silver badge

          Re: One company

          Why? Ir was the perfect response to your ill informed and bigoted rant.

    2. Spanners Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: One company

      We shouldn't support a country that engages in genocide and other crimes against humanity.

      That rules out any US phone industry, if one ever started.

    3. Youngone Silver badge

      Re: One company

      The massive US-owned company I work for makes nearly $1 billion in profit from their operations in China every year. The shareholders have no interest in your ideas at all.

      They also don't particularly care about things like "crimes against humanity" because why would they?

    4. gandalfcn Silver badge

      Re: One company

      "Do they not know that all Chinese companies are de-facto state owned?" According to Trump, FoxNews, Breitbart et al, all of whom are blatant liars.

      "We shouldn't support a country that engages in genocide and other crimes against humanity." Than you should not support the USA. You obviously know little about history or current affairs.

  4. Spanners Silver badge
    Boffin

    Please get it through your heads

    I do not want a phone made in the USA any more than I would want a car made there.

    Why? Anything made in the USA is guaranteed to have a back door and various forms of spookware*. Something made in Korea might and something made in China wont have US spookware anyway. If they want to spy on me, I don't care.

    If I cannot get something from China, Samsung would be nice if they got rid of Bixby and various other items of crudware**.

    If that fails, has Vietnam got a phone industry? How long can I make this current phone last? When will Nokia be back?

    * - spookware is software installed at the behest of unseen "intelligence" agencies to spy on me

    ** - crudware is unwanted software that I cannot remove, put there to make the manufacturer and their friends even richer

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Please get it through your heads

      So currently the most secure is to get a Chinese phone with a Google ban and sideload apps

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. mark l 2 Silver badge

    Huawei 5G kit, routers etc the US could put forward a reasonable case for banning those on security grounds, but Honor only make consumer grade phones and I fail to see how they are a security concern. Sure ban there use by government depts if the device security is a worry, but stopping job public picking up a new Honor phone on the ground of 'national security' is just laughable.

    1. gandalfcn Silver badge

      Most PRC bashing is laughable, albeit dangerous, just like the Basher in Chief and his GOP slaves.

  7. Kev99 Silver badge

    This problem exists because C-levels are more concerned wall street's quarterly demands and their own bank accounts than they are about domestic production.

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