Why the US thinks Huawei has been a massive national security threat for years

The arrest of Huawei Technologies' CFO, Meng Wanzhou, put markets on edge. At the time, it was seen as the latest skirmish in the trade war between the United States and China. But it's actually the latest entry in an ongoing high-tech struggle between the U.S. and the Chinese smartphone giant over national security.

Huawei is now the No. 2 smartphone player in the world, shipping more units than Apple, according to research firm IDC. The company is right behind Samsung.

So why go after Huawei?

The Chinese company has been under scrutiny by the U.S. since at least 2011 for its allegedly close ties to China's government. Some U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials think Huawei's hardware could also provide a backdoor for China's massive and sophisticated state surveillance apparatus. Huawei denies these allegations, and the company declined CNBC's request for comment.

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