UPDATES

Huawei: US Congress, Canada backs Australian government claims that Chinese company is a security risk

Oct 15, 2012 | Sharyn Mittelman

Iran and the Huawei controversy
news_item/huawei-logo.jpg

In March this year the Australian government decided to block Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from bidding on the National Broadband Network (NBN) due to security risks. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation advised the government that Huawei’s involvement in the NBN could compromise national security due to the rise of cyber hacking by the Chinese Government and the view that Huawei could provide a helping hand to the Chinese government or at least be vulnerable to pressure.

Huawei’s supporters in Australia, many of whom have been wooed by the company, the Chinese government or both, have since tried to argue that this decision was mistaken, and that excluding Huawei would unnecessarily damage Australia’s relationship with China.

AIJAC blogged about this decision at the time, noting that Huawei was also accused in the Wall Street Journal in October 2011 of using its communications technology to enable the Iranian regime to track down local Iranian dissidents during the 2009 Iranian demonstrations. Many of those dissidents were killed or tortured by the regime. Huawei denies the allegations.

Meanwhile, Canada has also followed Australia’s approach by stating its intention to exclude Huawei from helping it build a secure Canadian government communications network, due to security risks. This follows the US Commerce Department’s decision in 2011 to block Huawei from bidding to build a new wireless network.

Now a report by the US Congress on Huawei released on October 8 appears to support Australia and Canada’s security concerns. The Congressional report follows a year long investigation and concluded that “the risks associated with Huawei’s and ZTE’s provision of equipment to US critical infrastructure could undermine core US national-security interests” and recommends that the government block acquisitions by the two and that US companies avoid doing business with them.

The Congressional report also noted the lack of transparency by the companies, it states:

“Despite hours of interviews, extensive and repeated requests, a review of open-source information and open hearing with witness from both companies, the Committee remains unsatisfied with the level of cooperation and candor provided by each company. Neither company was willing to provide sufficient evidence to ameliorate the Committee’s concerns… Huawei in particular, failed to provide thorough information about its corporate structure, history, ownership, operations, financial arrangements, or management.”

An interesting report on US ‘60 minutes’ aired on October 7, which explored many of the security concerns with Huawei, particularly its murky connection with the Chinese government. The following is an extract from the transcript:

“Steve Kroft: If you look at Huawei, it looks like just a big international company with an American face.

Chris Johnson: Yep. And that’s the intent.

Until last spring, Chris Johnson was the CIA’s top analyst on China, and he’s briefed the last three presidents on what’s been happening behind the scenes in Beijing. He tells a different story than Huawei’s Bill Plummer.

Chris Johnson: The problem I think is really it boils down to an issue of will the company take some steps to make themselves, you know, more transparent about their operations, and what their ultimate goal is, especially this relationship with the Chinese government, with the Chinese Communist Party and with the People’s Liberation Army.

Johnson says the military has always played a role in Chinese telecommunications, and that Huawei’s reclusive CEO served as an army major in telecommunications research before he retired and founded Huawei, supposedly with a few thousand dollars in savings and no help from the Chinese government.

Steve Kroft: What could you tell me about the guy that runs this company? Ren?

Chris Johnson: Ren Zhengfei, yeah. He’s a very mysterious figure. And, you know, there really isn’t that much known about him.

Steve Kroft: Has he ever given an interview?

Chris Johnson: Not that I’m aware of. Of course it does generate these concerns about why he won’t give an interview and why he won’t say something about his role in the company and his philosophy of how the company operates.
Unlike Western companies that are usually regulated and scrutinized, about the only entity privy to the inner-workings of Huawei is a Communist Party Committee, which has offices inside the company’s headquarters.

Chris Johnson: You know, at the end of the day, the Communist Party controls the entire economy. They ultimately decide who the winners and losers are. The ultimate leverage that they have over these type of companies is that they can, you know, launch a corruption investigation against the chairman, for example.

Steve Kroft: If the Chinese government told Huawei that they wanted them to spy on the U.S. telecommunication system, and extract information, could Huawei say no?

Chris Johnson: It’d be very difficult for them, given the nature of their system.

Jim Lewis: Here, companies are used to, you know, throwing their weight around and telling the government what to do. In China, a company is a Chia pet. The state tells them what to do, and they do it…”

 

Sharyn Mittelman

 

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


455daec3 C2a8 8752 C215 B7bd062c6bbc

After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire for hostages deal

Nov 29, 2023 | Update
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organisation's October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO (Screenshot)

Horror on Video / International Law and the Hamas War

Oct 31, 2023 | Update
Sderot, Israel. 7th Oct, 2023. Bodies of dead Israelis lie on the ground following the attacks of Hamas (Image: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Israel’s Sept. 11, only worse

Oct 11, 2023 | Update
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (r) gets his long-awaited face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden in New York (Photo: Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office)

Netanyahu meets Biden, other world leaders, in New York

Sep 27, 2023 | Update
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who gave an address on Aug. 28 threatening the US and laying out the Iranian-led axis's new "unity of the arenas" doctrine. (Photo: Shutterstock, mohammad kassir)

US-Iran prisoner swap deal set to go through

Sep 12, 2023 | Update
A rally of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party last year: Yet outside these faithful, Abbas is not only largely unpopular, but his rule over the PA has seen the Palestinian parliament dissolved, judiciary sidelined, and his party hollowed out (Photo: Shutterstock, Anas-Mohammed)

The Crisis in the PA

Aug 28, 2023 | Update

SIGN UP FOR AIJAC EMAILS

RECENT POSTS

A barrage of words charged with venomous lies targets Australian Jews daily (Image: Shutterstock)

The Last Word: Words – Holy and hateful

The 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Ministerial Declaration (Image: US Dept of State)

Europa Europa: Empty words

Mghead2

Biblio File: The Education of an Editor

Memorial composed of photos of young Israelis killed during the terrorist attack on the NOVA Festival which took place on October 7, 2023 a few kilometers from Gaza (Image: Jose Hernandez/ Camera 51/ Shutterstock)

The world’s ‘Triple Standard’ against Israel endangers global security

Image: Abed Rahim Khatib/ Shutterstock

A plan for Gaza

A barrage of words charged with venomous lies targets Australian Jews daily (Image: Shutterstock)

The Last Word: Words – Holy and hateful

The 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Ministerial Declaration (Image: US Dept of State)

Europa Europa: Empty words

Mghead2

Biblio File: The Education of an Editor

Memorial composed of photos of young Israelis killed during the terrorist attack on the NOVA Festival which took place on October 7, 2023 a few kilometers from Gaza (Image: Jose Hernandez/ Camera 51/ Shutterstock)

The world’s ‘Triple Standard’ against Israel endangers global security

Image: Abed Rahim Khatib/ Shutterstock

A plan for Gaza

SORT BY TOPICS