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The game company Activision Blizzard is facing backlash from a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members after it was revealed that the company had joined Beijing’s strategic partnership with the telecommunications giant Huawei.

The alliance allows Huawei to acquire technology and expertise in Activision’s mobile business in return for loosening federal restrictions on Chinese telecom firms, reports Reuters.

Reuters reports that while industry watchers suggest that companies such as Activision Blizzard are likely to slowly move away from Huawei, the company is still one of the most visible companies in the U.S. as it does business with Hollywood film-makers.

Reuters is reporting that lawmakers accuse the alliance of endangering U.S. national security, while the White House worries that it will allow Huawei and other Chinese telecom firms, such as ZTE, to use non- U.S. technologies and data for Chinese customers.

“The notion that this small decision that you’ve made would somehow endanger the national security of the United States is ludicrous,” Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard, said in a statement.

“Given our overall financial strength, committed workforce, new headquarters that is being built on-shore, and current industry leadership positions, our decision to join this partnership was the right thing to do.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce told Reuters the decision by Activision Blizzard to form a partnership was its own, while ZTE welcomed the partnership, which would help it compete in the global telecom industry.

In December 2017, Huawei and ZTE reached an agreement that limited the companies’ ability to cooperate with each other, and allowed ZTE to freely use Huawei’s wireless and broadband telecommunications technologies.

Shortly after the agreement was struck, U.S. President Donald Trump granted the companies a reprieve from federal government restrictions to help the latter purchase American components.

Experts suggest that the agreement gives China its first significant opportunity to establish itself as a true global technology powerhouse, rivaling the U.S.

Source: The Guardian

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