Huawei will not pass information to Beijing, says Chinese ambassador
China’s ambassador to London has said he can promise that Huawei would not pass confidential information back to authorities in Beijing.
Liu Xiaoming dismissed concerns that China could install so-called backdoors in the tech firm’s equipment, allowing the country to spy on the UK.
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Asked if he could promise that Huawei would not pass information back to the Chinese government, Lui said: “I can promise that, 100 per cent.”
Huawei has found itself at the centre of a political dispute between China and the west amid concerns about its involvement in next-generation 5G networks.
While US President Donald Trump has added the company to a trade blacklist, the UK is yet to finalise its position on the issue.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, the ambassador insisted there were safeguards in place to prevent government interference, and he emphasised Huawei’s status as a leader in 5G.
“I think if you reject Huawei you will miss enormous opportunities,” he said. “I think they are here for win-win cooperation; they are not here to spy [on] people.”
Huawei has always denied it could be used as a vehicle for Chinese espionage, and has argued the US’s campaign against it is politically-motivated.
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Trump last week sparked confusion as he appeared to row back on a former crackdown on US companies doing business with Huawei. However, the Chinese firm remains on a trade blacklist as a potential national security risk.
But concerns over Huawei’s links to Beijing appear not to have influenced UK telecoms firms, as equipment made by the Chinese company is now in use in non-core parts of the 5G networks recently launched by EE and Vodafone.