Published in The National Interest, Foundation Advisor Grant Newsham, states that the U.S. government has named its price on ZTE. This price was for ZTE's gross violations of U.S. law and sanctions, for bribing its way into contracts around the world, and for spying. But China can pay these prices.
" As for the American compliance team? It’s hard to imagine that a handful of Americans—maybe a couple of whom speak Mandarin—are going to ride herd on a Chinese company with 75,000 employees and global operations."
Mr. Newsham raises the question how do you accomplish this at a company ultimately beholden to the Chinese government? That is a tough question that is hard to find an answer to. A fundamental problem with ZTE—and Chinese companies in general—is that prohibited behaviors in the West are more often than not the preferred practices in China. As for the U.S. government’s spying concerns with ZTE products, Grant underscores that the espionage will be better hidden or moved to another ‘platform’ company instead of terminated.