Huawei’s feud with the United States is escalating with FedEx joining the fray after the shipping company reportedly diverted some of the China-based corporation’s packages to the U.S.
The Chinese telecom giant has accused FedEx of sending two of its package from Japan to the United States when the destination was intended to be China. Huawei also mentioned that FedEx attempted to divert two more packages intended for Huawei offices elsewhere in Asia from Vietnam.
Huawei provided images of the FedEx tracking records to Reuters on May 24th but the media outlet was unable to verify the authenticity of the tracking record. FedEx has declined to make a comment on the matter, stating that company policy prevents it from discussing customer information.
Huawei declined to explain why it thought the packages were diverted.
According to Reuters, the diverted packages contained “no technology,” and only commercial documents. Huawei’s spokesperson, Joe Kelly, said that the FedEx diversion “undermines [Huawei’s] confidence,” and that the company would have to review its logistical relationship with FedEx. Huawei filed a complaint with the postal regulator in China.
FedEx spokeswoman Maury Donahue explained that the packages were wrongly routed and such incident is “an isolated issue limited to a very small number of packages.”
“We are aware of all shipments at issue and are working directly with our customers to return the packages to their possession,” said Donahue.
FedEx China apologized for the incident through Weibo on May 28th and rooted out any “external pressure” in package diversion.
The U.S. Department of Commerce did not reply to confirm whether the package incident is related to its decision on May 15th that placed Huawei on the so-called ‘Entity List.’
Source: Reuters
