Huawei, ZTE risks 'overstated' (3)

"The actual number of (US) jobs that Chinese investors have created likely exceeds 10,000 - many times the official estimate," the report said.

"If China follows the pattern of other emerging economies, more than $1 trillion in direct Chinese investment will flow worldwide by 2020, a significant share of which will be destined for advanced markets such as the United States," the Asia Society added.

Kantor, who was also a key member of the Clinton administration's team on trade-led negotiations that formed the WTO in 1995, makes the point that all governments have security laws to protect themselves against commercial acquisitions of home-grown technology.

"What interests me is that the US government continues to focus on Huawei," he said.

"Now companies that compete with Huawei are pressing the US government to take their side, and they're trying to convince the government that Huawei is doing something wrong."

The former official added he was concerned that such claims could have escalated to the point they have, without firm evidence being cited.

"Everyone's technology can be hacked," he said.

Last year, The Washington Post obtained a presentation titled "Huawei and National Security", which was prepared by Cisco Systems Inc, the Silicon Valley giant that competes against the Chinese company in the manufacture of networking equipment and other telecommunications gear.

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