As the world becomes more aware of the close ties between Huawei and China’s authoritarian regime, U.S. State Department officials say that to allow Huawei equipment anywhere in the supply chain poses a serious national security risk.
Last week, some Huawei employees confirmed to Czech Radio that Huawei secretly collected personal information on users, officials, and business partners in the Czech Republic and shared it with the local Chinese Embassy.
Huawei also secretly helped North Korea build and maintain a wireless communication network, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
However, a U.S. State Department official says their concern is not just about Huawei. Jonathan Fritz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia & Pacific Affairs, U.S. State Department said, “The key part of our concern is that Huawei and any other Chinese company or individual is subject to coercion by the Chinese state to cooperate and collaborate support, intelligence and security functions.”
State Department officials have pointed out that in recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has enacted a series of laws, including the National Intelligence Law, National Security Law, and the Cyber Security Law, forcing companies and individuals to follow the regime’s orders.
The United States is urging other countries that while conducting 5G risk assessments, they must take into consideration how their vendors might be compromised.
Robert Strayer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Policy at the U.S. State Department said, “We think that a country that is able to exert influence over a vendor company without the due process of law, without an independent judiciary standing in between … We think that vendor could be told to take action that are in the interests only of that country where its headquartered.”
The U.S. has excluded Huawei equipment entirely from their 5G system. Strayer says their position is that there should be no untrusted vendors anywhere in the 5G network.
So far Australia, New Zealand, and Japan have also excluded Huawei—but many countries, particularly in Europe, have not yet decided on the issue.
The State Department also highlighted that the Chinese regime has provided massive subsidies to Huawei and ZTE, enabling them to dominate the 5G market by undercutting prices. And the help isn’t just for commercial interests—it also has intelligence, security, and diplomacy benefits.
Jonathan Fritz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia & Pacific Affairs said, ” I think the Trojan horse was offered for a pretty good price, it was free I believe. That doesn’t mean that you should take it and roll it inside of your citadel.”
