Former South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon is busy defending his previous role providing legal work—and occasional public advocacy—on behalf of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Xenophon announced a week earlier that he would be running for the Australian Senate against former colleague Rex Patrick, who took Xenophon’s place when he retired from Parliament in 2017. The former senator’s law firm, Xenophon Davis, was contracted by Huawei Australia to provide legal advice, during this time, Xenophon also publicly stated Huawei had been “unfairly maligned” following its ban from Australia’s 5G network in 2018 over security concerns. On April 3, Xenophon said Huawei Australia was a separate business from its parent company in China, pointing out that it had a separate board. “[Former Foreign Affairs Minister] Alexander Downer, and John Brumby—the former Labor premier of Victoria—were key members of that board in years gone by,” he told Sky News Australia. “The business in …