Ren Zhengfei claims Huawei “never received any request from any government to provide improper information”.

Huawei

Ren Zhengfei, former People’s Liberation Army military technologist and founder and president of Huawei in 1987 rejects claims that the Chinese Government has ever put pressure on Huawei to “install mandatory backdoors [that could be for spying]”.

Zhengfei made this unusual public comment after his daughter Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, was held in Canada last month at the request of US authorities who allege she misled banks about the company’s control of a firm operating in Iran.

“I miss my daughter very much,” said the 74-year-old who these days keeps a very low profile. He said, “I still love my country, I support the Communist Party, but I will never do anything to harm any country in the world.”

“I trust the legal systems of Canada and the United States are open, just, and fair. After all the evidence is made open, we must rely on the decision of the court, and the just verdicts that follow.”

What about Huaweiphobia?

GadgetGuy reported on the growing wave of Huaweiphobia careful to present a balanced view. In essence, a statement by FCC boss Ajit Pai in March 2018 contributed to several countries precluding Huawei (and other Chinese companies) from participating in the 5G rollout or other sensitive areas of the US government.

Threats to national security posed by certain communications equipment providers are a matter of bipartisan concern. Hidden ‘backdoors’ to our networks in routers, switches—and virtually any other type of telecommunications equipment—can provide an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data, and more. Although the FCC alone can’t safeguard the integrity of our communications supply chain, we must and will play our part in a government- and industry-wide effort to protect the security of our networks.”

Zhengfei responded by playing down the risk Huawei faced from its exclusion from the rollout of 5G telecoms networks in some countries.

“It’s always been the case; you can’t work with everyone … we’ll shift our focus to serve better countries that welcome Huawei’” He said “The company has 30 contracts globally to build 5G networks. Huawei is an independent business; we are committed to being on the side of our customers when it comes to cybersecurity and protecting privacy. We will never harm any nation or individual. “

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already clarified, no law in China requires any company to install backdoors. Huawei and myself have never received any request from any government to provide information.”

GadgetGuy’s take: Lets be fair to Huawei

We present the information as a matter of public record and to show both sides of the argument. We repeat our advice that Huawei’s mobile phones are not part of the discussion. Ordinary Australians need not fear Chinese spying. Its Mate 20 Pro is currently the worlds most advanced smartphone –  at least until we see what Samsung and more roll out at the Mobile World Congress in February.

If you have confidential dealings, then use a VPN and if you are in critical infrastructure, government, military or contractor supplying any of the above you must comply with your government’s wishes.