In the yo-yo pattern that represents Huawei’s global relationships, the past year would have brought some comfort to the Chinese vendor, with a European operators’ association, as well as government authorities in Japan and South Korea, pushing back against the US-led move to bar Huawei from 5G networks everywhere. In the past few months, European markets have, one by one, fallen into line with the USA, either with overt bans, as in the UK, or with restrictions that make it effectively impossible for operators to buy confidently from the Chinese firm, as in Germany. But the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), which represents smaller operators and digital service providers in the region, has “denounced” any sanctions against Chinese suppliers if…