Australia prepares to ban Huawei from 5G project
Australia is preparing to ban Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment for its planned 5G broadband network after its intelligence agencies raised concerns that Beijing could force the Chinese telco to hand over sensitive data. Western intelligence agencies have for years raised concerns about Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and the possibility that its equipment could be used for espionage. But there has never been any public evidence to support those suspicions.
Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecommunications network gear and the No 3 smartphone supplier, has promised that Canberra will have complete oversight of 5G network equipment, which could include base stations, towers and radio transmission equipment.
That sort of oversight model has been accepted by other countries — notably the UK, where a special laboratory staffed with government intelligence officials reviews all Huawei products.
Other Western countries, including the New Zealand, Canada and Germany, also say they have sufficient safeguards for assuring that Huawei equipment does not contain “back doors” or other mechanisms for secretly monitoring or collecting information.
But Australian intelligence agencies have told lawmakers that oversight will not allay their concerns, two political sources said.
“It is a Chinese company, and under Communist law they have to work for their intelligence agencies if requested,” said one of the government sources. “There aren’t many other companies around the world that have their own political committees.”
Huawei has already been mostly shut out of the giant US market over national security concerns.
Its business serving small, rural telecom operators is now at risk after new attacks on the company in recent weeks by some US lawmakers.
The move to ban Huawei in Australia comes as tensions mount over China’s growing power and ambitions in the region.
Relations between the two countries are at an all-time low after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year accused Beijing of meddling in Canberra’s affairs, and China responded by slowing some Australian imports.
Australia’s 5G service will require a dense network of towers that would then be leased to mobile providers such as Telstra Corp.
Mobile carriers typically have access to sensitive personal information, such as Internet search history or e-mails.
But in Australia and most other countries, there are strict laws governing when and how they can do so.
Australia’s intelligence agencies fear that if mobile operators rely on Huawei’s equipment, the Chinese company could develop a means of collecting data or even undermining the stability of the network.