Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday offered a forceful defence of embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei, suggesting Western nations bent on shutting it down were being hypocritical in their concerns over the company’s ties to Chinese cyber espionage.In back-to-back public appearances in Tokyo, the 93-year-old premier dismissed the prospect of his country joining the likes of the United States and its allies – including Japan – in banning government purchases of the Shenzhen…