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Huawei\u2019s cybersecurity chief told the UK parliament Monday that the Chinese telecoms giant has been advised it was under no obligation to spy for Beijing if so asked by the Communist state.<\/p>\n
John Suffolk told a committee hearing that Huawei has sought guidance from its attorneys to see if a Chinese law on domestic companies\u2019 cooperation with the government on security matters could force it to conduct foreign intelligence work.<\/p>\n
The legislation has been cited by US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration in its attempts to force governments across the world to drop Huawei from their 5G network development plans.<\/p>\n
Suffolk\u2019s appearance before the UK parliament\u2019s science and technology committee came as Britain prepares to publish delayed policy guidelines for the next-generation technology\u2019s rollout.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no laws in China that obligate us to work with the Chinese government with anything whatsoever,\u201d Suffolk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur legal advice is that is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britain and other states are concerned by a series of Chinese laws that include one adopted in June 2017 covering private companies and intelligence matters.<\/p>\n
Committee member Julian Lewis cited the legislation as saying that Beijing had the power to \u201crequest the relevant organs, organisations and civilians to provide the necessary support, assistance and cooperation\u201d to various Chinese security agencies.<\/p>\n
Suffolk said the legislation\u2019s \u201cunclear\u201d wording forced Huawei to consult its Chinese attorneys and advisers at London\u2019s Clifford Chance law firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany countries produce laws that are unclear and we have had to go through a period of clarification with the Chinese government that have come out and made it quite clear that (spying) is not the requirement on any company,\u201d Suffolk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had that validated again by our lawyers and revalidated again by Clifford Chance. I believe there is no such obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis called Suffolk\u2019s explanation \u201centirely unbelievable\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Huawei\u2019s work in Xinjiang \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n Huawei currently provides the most advanced \u2014 and least expensive \u2014 5G technology in the world.<\/p>\n It is also widely integrated into Britain\u2019s existing 4G network and has been cooperating with the UK government since 2010 on cybersecurity threats.<\/p>\n UK intelligence agencies have been unable to agree whether it was wiser to \u201cmanage\u201d risks by working more closely with Huawei \u2014 or to fall behind technologically and wait for Western companies to develop their own 5G systems.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has warned that the US may have to stop sharing intelligence with Britain if it builds its new network around Huawei hardware.<\/p>\n British lawmakers have been further unnerved by revelations first made by Australian researchers that Huawei\u2019s tecnology was being used to conduct surveillance in China\u2019s restrive Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n Chinese authorities have placed an estimated one million mostly Muslim ethnic minorities \u2014 including Uighurs \u2014 in internment camps with the help of face recognition technology.<\/p>\n Suffolk confirmed that Huawei\u2019s equipment was being used by a \u201cpartner\u201d in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n \u201cOur contracts are with a third party. It is not something we do directly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Committee members pressed Suffolk on whether he felt \u201ccomplicit\u201d in wide-scale abuses of human rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s for us to make such judgements,\u201d Suffolk said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur judgement is, is it legal within the countries in which we operate. That\u2019s our criteria. It\u2019s for others to make a judgement on whether it\u2019s right or wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n