‘EU should be wary of Huawei’

Tech company says concerns based on misunderstandings

December 08, 2018 07:44 pm | Updated 07:50 pm IST - BRUSSELS

Andrus Ansip

Andrus Ansip

The European Union (EU) should be worried about Huawei and other Chinese technology companies because of the risk they pose to the bloc’s industry and security, the EU’s technology chief said, echoing concerns raised elsewhere in the world.

Huawei expressed disappointment at EU Tech Commissioner Andrus Ansip’s comments, saying it had never been asked to install technology that could be used for spying and never would.

“Do we have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies? Yes, I think we have to be worried about those companies,” Mr. Ansip told a news conference in Brussels, days after a top executive at Huawei was arrested in Canada as part of an investigation into alleged bank fraud.

National champion

Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to China’s government.

Mr. Ansip said he was concerned because Chinese technology companies were required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, such as on “mandatory back doors” to allow access to encrypted data. He also said the companies produced chips that could be used ”to get our secrets.”

Huawei called such comments misunderstandings and denied it posed a security threat. “Huawei has never been asked by any government to build any back doors or interrupt any networks, and we would never tolerate such behaviour by any of our staff,” the company said in a statement.

Separately, sources with knowledge of the matter said Huawei would spend $2 billion as part of efforts to address security issues raised in a British government report earlier this year. Germany, meanwhile, said it opposed excluding any manufacturer from the planned construction of 5G mobile networks.

However, Belgian newspapers L’Echo and De Tijd reported the country’s centre for cybersecurity was considering banning Huawei in Belgium.

Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp. to beef up its defences against intelligence leaks and cyberattacks, sources told Reuters.

A government ban in Japan will come after Huawei has already been locked out of the U.S. market and after Australia and New Zealand have blocked it from building 5G networks.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.