Huawei fights to win back trust as spy fury grows

A TOP Huawei executive has pledged to do whatever it takes to restore the Chinese firm’s reputation, as it fights back against claims of spying.

Vincent Peng, the firm’s president for Western Europe, made the promise after democracies around the world moved to block its equipment from new mobile networks.

Huawei has insisted that its equipment cannot be used for spying. And, amid a review of rules that could see the company’s activities curbed in the UK, Peng tried to soothe concerns.

He said: ‘Anything needed to do this transformation we are committed to do this.

‘We try everything, try all the best efforts, to try to prove we are a good company.’

Peng’s comments came as a dispute over the arrest of Huawei’s finance chief in Canada escalated, with China detaining two Canadian men in an apparent act of retaliation.

The move ratcheted up pressure on Canada after the country took action against Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou.

But Peng’s reassurances were questioned by security experts. Ollie Whitehouse, the technology chief of top British cyber security firm NCC Group, told the Mail: ‘The UK has been very prudent to ban Huawei equipment from the core of the telecoms network.

‘China is an aggressive state. So do you allow them to provide the core technology to the communications systems of your country?’

‘As a risk professional, if there is someone I know has been aggressive towards me and wants to steal information from me as a state, it would be prudent to manage where that equipment comes from.’