Huawei: Federal government should have evidence of cooperation with China’s security authorities

The German government should have evidence to show that the Chinese technology group Huawei is working with the Chinese security authorities, reports the “Handelsblatt“According to the newspaper, the Federal Foreign Office has classified it internally as a classified document, which shows that the Americans have provided the relevant information.

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The paper quotes from the note: “At the end of 2019, we received US intelligence information that Huawei has been shown to work with China’s security agencies.” The foreign ministry described the information mentioned as a “smoking gun”, ie as concrete evidence that Huawei is helping Chinese intelligence services in some way with foreign intelligence.

However, the letter lacks an explanation of the nature of the evidence provided by the United States. Nevertheless, the ministry concludes in the document: “The trustworthiness of Chinese companies is not given in connection with the security requirements when building 5G networks.”

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For months, there has been disagreement within the government about how to deal with Huawei in connection with the construction of the future 5G mobile radio networks. So far, the company is the most important supplier for the new radio network technology and, according to experts, is superior to the competition both technologically and in terms of price. However, the United States has been accusing the company of hiding back doors for Chinese intelligence in its hardware for years. To date, however, the Americans have not been able to provide concrete evidence, at least not publicly. The second line of argument focuses on Chinese laws that would oblige companies like Huawei to provide assistance to China’s intelligence agencies.

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Internal quarrels

The State Department follows the US line of reasoning and warns that Chinese network technology can be used for targeted attacks. In view of the important role 5G technology should play for infrastructure operators and industry, it is therefore committed to making the political trustworthiness of manufacturers a criterion for their approval as suppliers of 5G technology. Huawei could have a hard time competing against such criteria, writes the “Handelsblatt”.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the other hand, has so far spoken out against Huawei being excluded from the 5G expansion. According to the newspaper, the authors of the letter from the Federal Foreign Office are harshly criticizing this course. According to them, they complain that the government is “very late” due to internal quarrels. There is also harsh criticism at the Ministry of the Interior. That wanted to “regulate a reservation of approval for the use of components by law”. However, this approach was “deleted at the request of the management”.

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Huawei has rejected the report of the “Handelsblatt”. A company spokesman told Reuters that Huawei has never done anything and will never do anything that threatens the security of its customers’ networks and data. “The ‘Handelsblatt’ article repeats old and unfounded allegations without providing any concrete evidence.”

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