NZ bars Chinese firm on national security fears

Continues from page 1

Not so from Malta, it would seem, Last July Malta and Chinese technology giant Huawei signed a memorandum of understand that will improve Malta businesses via 5G, especially digital infrastructure for smart cities.

The agreement, which was signed by Huawei Technologies Italia CEO Miao Xiaoyang and Maltese Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Economy Silvio Schembri, comes two years after Malta and Huawei signed another MOU that had seen the company test its flagship 5G internet connectivity in Malta.

Speaking at the signing event, Miao said that Malta had already been included in Huawei's global 5G program, noting that the technology would offer greater bandwidth and facilitated mass connections that could eventually be harnessed to create smart cities.

Telecoms firm Spark New Zealand planned to use equipment from the Chinese firm in its 5G network.

The head of NZ's Government Communications Security Bureau told Spark the proposal "would , if implemented, raise significant national security risks", the company said.

Intelligence services minister Andrew Little said Spark could work with the agency to reduce that risk.

"As the GCSB has noted, this is an ongoing process. We will actively address any concerns and work together to find a way forward," Huawei said.

The move follows a decision by Australia to block Huawei and Chinese firm ZTE from providing 5G technology for the country's wireless networks on national security grounds.

The US and UK have raised concerns with Huawei, and the firm has been scrutinised in Germany, Japan and Korea.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has been trying to persuade wireless providers to avoid using equipment from Huawei.

In the UK, a security committee report in July warned that it had "only limited assurance" that Huawei's telecoms gear posed no threat to national security.

One country is standing by Huawei: Papua New Guinea said this week it would go ahead with an agreement for Huawei to build its internet infrastructure.

The Pacific nation has seen a surge in investment from China over the past decade.

Experts say foreign governments are increasingly worried about the risk of espionage by China, given the close ties between companies and the state.

Tom Uren, visiting fellow in the International Cyber Policy Centre at Australia's Strategic Policy Institute, said the Chinese government had "clearly demonstrated intent over many years to steal information".

"The Chinese state has engaged in a lot of cyber and other espionage and intellectual property theft," he said.

Links between firms and the gov- ernment have fuelled concerns that China may attempt to "leverage state-linked companies to be able to enable their espionage operations", Mr Uren said.

Those concerns were exacerbated by new laws introduced last year that required Chinese organisations assist in national intelligence efforts.

The laws enable the Chinese state to compel people and possibly companies to assist if they needed it, Mr Uren said.

The combination of new rules and a history of espionage have increased the perceived danger of using companies like Huawei and ZTE in critical national infrastructure.

"It's hard to argue that they don't represent an elevated risk," Mr Uren added.