As it currently stands, there is no reason for any major Western corporation to stick its neck out for Huawei. If any major company defects from Washington, then they will have to bear the pain as well. And for what benefit?
The Chinese market is not influential enough to bear the wrath of Washington for. That much is clear. Beijing therefore has no leverage with these foreign companies.
We can consider the usage of American technology throughout supply chains as an extension of the American network. The American network has its center in Washington, and spreads out like a root system throughout the world. Other technological networks are like that.
The principle task is to challenge this root network directly. One can try to grow their own technological network, but that takes time. And as gadgetcool says, the other networks are all connected to each other, while China's would be isolated. I read somewhere that the key to Huawei's innovation was its global network of campuses, drawing in talent from all countries around the world. Huawei is not a 100% indigenous company, but an attempt to grow the Chinese tech network. It is therefore obvious that "self sufficiency" is not the solution going forward, although it is necessary.
One can try to cut off the American technological network, but that hurts you more than America, since American influence is larger.
Another option may be to "subvert" the network via positive feedback. Technological jujitsu, using the American network's size against it.
Lets consider oil for instance. Oil is used at every level of the industrial chain. The effects of an oil shock would be at first very devastating, but as the shock goes on, the economic effects are transformed into "whole of society effects." Economic devastation begets technological stagnation, which leads to social disintegration, which feeds back into economics, then technological, then social again. A positive feedback loop towards negative ends.
The more oil dependent a network is, the more devastating the effects. Whereas a third world nation with low technology levels will adapt easier to an oil free lifestyle, major technological societies will collapse viciously.
An oil shock is therefore contagious, as damage in one sector cannot be limited to that sector, but spreads to every other sector connected to it. We can consider American sanctions to be just as contagious. Such an incident is very asymmetrical in regards to force applied vs effect achieved. (Remember, Iran's self defense strategy was to blow up the Straits of hormuz, and the world economy along with it).
What contagion can be applied to American technology, such that using it imposes costs on global capital, forcing it to choose the Chinese side?
Is there, for example, some very exploitable flaw in x86 / ARM chip architecture as opposed to RISC-V?
Jasmine tea never disappoints as well.
