Chinese hit by telecoms ban

CHINESE- owned telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE have been banned from participating in a major upgrade of Australia’s mobile and broadband networks due to security fears.

The government in Canberra said allowing them to be involved was too risky because they could be subject to Chinese government demands to hand over information.

It follows similar bans imposed by the US, which reportedly briefed Australian officials.

But the decision also raises fresh questions about Huawei’s future involvement in Britain’s telecoms network. It is in the running to win lucrative contracts to build cutting-edge ‘5G’ internet infrastructure, with BT, Vodafone and O2 all saying they will work with it.

John Hemmings, an Asia expert at foreign policy thinktank Henry Jackson Society, said: ‘The push to co- develop 5G is not without serious risks. We seem to be planning to give Huawei full access to our data highway, on the basis of shortsighted economic reasons over long- term national security ones.’ Huawei kit is already used on existing networks and is screened by spies at GCHQ.

But a report last month warned only ‘limited assurance’ could be given that its equipment posed no national security risk.

Huawei insists all of its equipment cannot be used by China for spying. It said the Australia ban was an ‘extremely disappointing result’.

Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former officer of China’s People’s Liberation Army, has long been accused of having close ties with the government in Beijing.