Chinese Research Body Breaks Ties With IEEE Division Over Huawei Controversy

Beijing-based China Computer Federation (CCF) has cut ties with a publications division of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on May 30, following IEEE’s ban on Huawei.

CCF announced that they would temporarily suspend communication and cooperation with the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc). Their members were also discouraged from contributing to any conferences and publications hosted by ComSoc and urged not to participate in academic evaluation activities of publications and conferences sponsored by by the division.

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”IEEE was once considered an open international academic organization,” CCF wrote in a statement published on Chinese social media, “But this time we regret to see that ComSoc has restricted the activities of its members on the grounds of local laws, which seriously violates the open, equal and non-politicized nature of being an international academic organization.”

IEEE is just one of many entities who have given Huawei the cold shoulder after the company was blacklisted by the U.S. due to national security concerns. American companies such as Google , Microsoft and Qualcomm have all suspended their commerce with Huawei in compliance with the US trade ban.

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News of the restrictions on peer review sparked outrage in the Chinese academic community and on social media. “I joined IEEE as a Ph.D. student because it is recognized as an International academic platform in electronics engineering,” Peking University professor Zhang Haixia said in an open letter published on WeChat. She has now decided to quit the editorial boards of two IEEE journals, until the common professional integrity is restored.