In light of accusations that Huawei's 5G products are being used for Chinese espionage, the US government has urged other American allies to block 5G networks from Huawei technology.

In response, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei defiantly stated: "There's no way the US can crush us. The world needs Huawei because we are more advanced."

Huawei has had a spate of high-profile incidents in recent months that have called its corporate ethics into question. In December, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada over charges of bank fraud and Iran sanctions evasion. The US has sought her extradition, and Canada has until March 1 to decide whether to comply with the request. As the daughter of Ren, Meng and her actions have spotlighted further issues in the company regarding nepotism and unethical practices. Another Huawei employee was arrested on espionage-related charges in Poland. The US also opened an investigation into theft of intellectual property from T-Mobile (TMUS  ) and other American entities. Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan have all limited Huawei's ability to participate in building their 5G networks. Other countries have heeded the American call to scrutinize Huawei more closely, and the UK, Japan, Norway, Canada, and the Czech Republic are all reassessing their involvement with the company.

"We must protect our critical telecom infrastructure, and America is calling on all our security partners to be vigilant and to reject any enterprise that would compromise the integrity of our communications technology or our national security systems," US Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

Huawei is currently at the forefront of 5G technology, as it is well integrated into the technical apparatus of multiple wireless carriers across the board. Even if the US successfully convinces countries to stop using Huawei, it's still a major player in the smartphone industry. The company is expected to overtake Samsung as the world's largest cell phone producer.

However, Trump recently tweeted this contradictory statement that hints the pushback against Huawei in the US may not be as bad as expected: "I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind..."

Huawei has experienced rapid growth across different parts of the world in a relatively short amount of time. The US is concerned about this rapid growth, because "if China controls the digital infrastructure of the 21st century, it will exploit this position for national security purposes and be capable of coercive leverage over the United States and its allies," as reiterated by General James L. Jones, former US national security advisor and NATO supreme allied commander.