Huawei accused of spying for the Chinese government

Jan 18, 2019 07:14 GMT  ·  By

Germany is currently looking into a possible ban of Huawei from participating in the development of its 5G networks, once again due to concerns that the company might be spying for the Chinese government.

While the country said in late 2018 that it found no evidence of cyberespionage, German authorities are now exploring several options that would eventually make it impossible for Huawei to be part of the 5G effort.

A report from Reuters citing business daily Handelsblatt reveals that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration considered implementing stricter security requirements that Huawei wouldn’t meet as a way to leave the Chinese manufacturer out of the development of 5G networks.

Furthermore, German authorities have discussed the idea of changes to the telecommunications law that would eventually lead to Huawei being kicked out of 5G.

Germany yet to make a decision

A decision in this regard hasn’t been made yet, the report adds, but Huawei once again emphasizes there’s no reason not to allow the company to participate in the development of 5G networks.

“We are very optimistic that we can completely fulfill all security requirements for 5G networks,” Huawei explained. “We see no rational grounds to exclude Huawei from the construction of 5G networks in any country around the world.”

Furthermore, Germany’s BDI industry association said there’s no reason to exclude Huawei or any other company unless strong evidence of any wrongdoings is discovered.

A Huawei employee was arrested earlier this month in Poland on spying claims. The Chinese company fired the worker and emphasized that it complies with all regulations in the states where it operates.

Earlier this week, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei also denied that his company would act as China’s Trojan horse, pointing out that he has never received any request from the government, neither the Beijing nor a different one, to install backdoors on devices in order to facilitate cyberespionage and data extraction.