HONG KONG, Dec 11 (CNN Business): The detention of a top Huawei executive is prompting some Chinese companies and business groups to call for workers to boycott products from US companies like Apple, prompting fears of a wider backlash.
Several organizations across China have issued notices urging staff members to show their support for Huawei, threatening punishment against anyone caught with Apple (AAPL) products or even offering subsidies to buy Chinese smartphones.
"The US aims to contain China's rise ... I believe we Chinese people should stand united and support our national products," the Nanchong Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said in a statement this week, warning any members who bought Apple products would be "banned."
The crisis began after news emerged that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of the company's founder, was detained in Vancouver on December 1. She could face extradition to the United States, provoking fury in Chinese state media.
"To treat a Chinese citizen like a serious criminal, to roughly trample their basic human rights, and to dishonor their dignity, how is this the method of a civilized country? How can this not make people furious?" said an editorial in People's Daily, the official mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.
The growing backlash has echoes of previous boycotts in China which have followed perceived insults to the country and at times resulted in large-scale, destructive protests.
In 2012, Japanese companies were attacked and at least one person was killed amid mass demonstrations staged throughout China over a territorial dispute with Japan. Similar scenes occurred in 2008, after the French government appeared to lend its support to Tibetan independence advocates.
Rana Mitter, director of the University China Center at Oxford University, told CNN the boycott of US goods was the start of a pattern seen frequently in China over the past three decades.
But "these things don't normally escalate to a larger level if there isn't some level of official permission to go ahead, as with the Japan demonstrations back in 2012," he said.
No major companies or government departments have publicly endorsed or taken part in the calls for boycotts yet, but a range of smaller suppliers and groups have enthusiastically taken part.
Shenzhen-based electronic parts supplier Menpad said Monday that it would give a 15% subsidy to any employees who bought phones from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (ZTCOF).
"The company will punish staff who buy Apple phones with a fine of 100% of market price," the notice to all staff members said. "Stop purchasing US brands for company equipment like work computers."
The notice has since been taken down and the company did not respond to CNN's attempts to contact them.
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