The decision of the American department of economic affairs to break its business links with Huawei would not affect jobs at the telecom giant's Technologies Research & Development premises in Ghent, the group's European branch assured on Thursday in a brief statement to Belga. Based in Ghent, "Huawei Technologies Research & Development NV" is a spin-off from Leuven's Institute of Microelectronics and Components (Imec), founded in 2010. It was acquired in 2013 by Huawei and employs about 40 people.
Even after the American authorities' decision, employees at the subsidiary "will not be affected," according to Huawei.
Washington wants to cut commercial bridges between the United States and the Chinese giant, estimating that the latter poses a significant risk of involving them in activities contrary to national security or America's foreign policy interests.
A list of 68 companies linked to the Chinese telecom giant has been drawn up by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Among them, there is a Leuven spin-off acquired in 2013 that is active in semiconductors, L'Echo revealed earlier in the day.
The Brussels Times
Huawei spying suspicion: jobs at Ghent subsidiary not under threat
