Huawei caught in the middle of trade brawl

In a sign that the United States is ramping up its pressure on the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, the New York-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has announced it now blocks Huawei employees from reviewing submissions to its journals, citing "severe legal implications" because of US government sanctions against the company.

The organization is best known for setting the standards for the computer and electronics industry, and has long served as an open platform for scientists worldwide to collaborate. On its website, it claims that it wants to "inspire a global community to innovate for a better tomorrow".

Yet its discriminatory move to ban Huawei employees from reviewing its science papers is incomprehensible to the scientific circle and beyond. It has not only humiliated Chinese scientists as a group by putting their professional integrity in doubt, but also curtailed academic freedom and ridiculed the institute's claims to independence.