Huawei goes all Art of War on us: Switches on 'battle mode' and vows to 'dominate the world'

You listening, Trump?

An internal memo to Huawei staff sent by boss Ren Zhengfei is long on military metaphors and warns that the company needs to go into "battle mode" to counter trade barriers put up by the United States.

Ren said that although first-half results were pretty healthy, some of this was due to sympathetic early payments by some Chinese firms.

"The company is facing a live-or-die moment... If you cannot do the job, then make way for our tank to roll. And if you want to come on the battlefield, you can tie a rope around the 'tank' to pull it along, everyone needs this sort of determination!" The memo was seen by Reuters but Huawei confirmed that it was genuine.

He called on staff to ensure accounts were paid on time to give the company a stable cash flow. He said they should continue to aim at pre-ban sales targets. Huawei was on track to become the world's largest handset maker before Trump's ban and unban of trading with the company. Now it all looks uncertain.

Ren said that after three to five years, Huawei "will be flowing with new blood... After we survive the most critical moment in history, a new army would be born. To do what? Dominate the world."

Yesterday Trump seemed to have blinked again when the US once mor extended the Huawei ban for another 90 days while simultaneously adding 40-odd Huawei-connected companies to the Entity List.

Trump originally claimed the ban was made on national security grounds, but then said that the freeze on trading with Huawei could be relaxed as part of a larger trade agreement between the two countries.

Talking to Sky News last week, Ren cited Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, who as a military campaigner led China through a vast territorial expansion. He also said the company would make 60,000 5G base stations this year and 1.5 million next year, claiming they were 30 per cent more efficient than its previous generation and no longer required US components. ®