Lets also not forget that an amazingly large amount of the time its Cisco that replaces the Huawei kit.
When the biggest intelligence agency on the planet, the one who got caught bugging its allies, starts acting as as salesman for a very specific brand of networking equipment you really do have to ask why.
Given premises: a) state with a hand in supplying gear will have a natural "home advantage" spying AND b)"everyone spies / does sigint" and c) it is basically impossible to detect a well-engineered backdoor then:
1) I believe we don't have to be cynical about the U.S. pushing say, Cisco, it makes perfect sense; I don't think that agenda is actually hidden.
2) It makes perfect sense to choose gear for critical infra based on which supplier states you believe will do you the least harm.
When the biggest intelligence agency on the planet, the one who got caught bugging its allies, starts acting as as salesman for a very specific brand of networking equipment you really do have to ask why.