K.S. Rajan (28
March 2012)
"Huawei Voices Dismay
at Australia Network Exclusion"
It is just natural that the West is suspicious about Huawei when
dealing with national security critical infrastructures.
"Huawei [is] disappointed by a government decision to exclude
the Chinese company from the 36 billion Australian dollar
(US$37.6 billion) National Broadband Network over reported
concerns about cyberattacks from China."
From today's WSJ, FYI,
David
March 26, 2012, 5:59 a.m. ET
Huawei Voices Dismay at Australia Network Exclusion
By GAVIN LOWER And ANDREW CRITCHLOW
MELBOURNE—The Australian unit of Huawei Technologies Co. said
Monday it hopes to play a role in building the country's
high-speed Internet project but is disappointed by a government
decision to exclude the Chinese company from the 36 billion
Australian dollar (US$37.6 billion) National Broadband Network
over reported concerns about cyberattacks from China.
"Huawei's business in Australia is not reliant on the NBN
[National Broadband Network]," said Jeremy Mitchell, the
company's corporate affairs director in Australia, in a
statement.
"While we're obviously disappointed by the decision, Huawei will
continue to be open and transparent and work to find ways of
providing assurance around the security of our technology,"
Huawei said in a separate statement. "While network security is
an issue for all vendors, the real risk is missing out on the
innovation China has to offer."
The Australian Financial Review newspaper reported over the
weekend that federal government officials late last year told
Huawei not to bother bidding for supply contracts for the
network, Australia's largest infrastructure project, which aims
to connect 93% of Australian homes and businesses to the
Internet with optical fiber.
Last year, Australian media reported that computers used by
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, then foreign minister Kevin Rudd
and several other government ministers were hacked, allegedly by
Chinese intelligence services. The government declined to
comment on the reports at the time.
A U.S. intelligence report released in November concluded that
hackers operating from China—both government-affiliated and
private-sector—are the world's most "active and persistent"
perpetrators of industrial spying. The report cited a number of
Chinese attacks, including one targeting Google GOOG -0.54%
Inc.; the theft of data from global energy companies; and theft
of proprietary data such as client lists and acquisition plans
at other companies.
Late last year, the U.S. Congress launched an investigation into
whether Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies
pose a potential national-security threat as they expand in the
U.S. The probe aimed to examine how Chinese companies are
supplying components of U.S. telecom systems and the security
threats that activity may pose. It also aimed to look at the
intelligence-collection capabilities that access to U.S. systems
would provide a foreign government.
The office of Australia's attorney general, Nicola Roxon, in a
statement Sunday didn't specify that Huawei was barred from
bidding on the NBN, saying only that the project is set to
become the backbone of Australia's information infrastructure.
"As such, and as a strategic and significant government
investment, we have a responsibility to do our utmost to protect
its integrity and that of the information carried on it," a
spokesman said in the statement. "This is consistent with the
government's practice for ensuring the security and resilience
of Australia's critical infrastructure more broadly."
Huawei says in a fact sheet that it established a headquarters
in Australia in 2004, employs 800 people and has a localized
board, which includes former Australian foreign minister
Alexander Downer and Victoria state premier John Brumby.
—Loretta Chao in Beijing and David Winning in Sydney contributed
to this article.