Peters says China’s confused
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters believes China has misunderstood the decision to stop Spark using Huawei for a 5G network, and will speak to the country to clarify this.
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) announced on Wednesday it would not allow Spark to use Chinese company Huawei’s equipment in its 5G network rollout unless a significant national security risk was mitigated. The United States and Australian governments have long expressed concerns about whether equipment from the company could be used for spying by the Chinese government, and sources suggest lobbying from these governments played a part in the decision.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday China was ‘‘gravely concerned with relevant reports’’.
Peters said he believed China’s Government was confused about the issue thanks to claims that Huawei had been ‘‘banned’’ by New Zealand.
‘‘I think it is not clear that the Chinese understand that there is a process here under our law, which has begun because of our GCSB statement to Spark,’’ Peters said. ‘‘Until that process is finished, any interpretation that they might have would be erroneous.
‘‘The Government has not banned Huawei as the headlines are saying, rather there is a process that has begun, it’s not complete yet, and I cannot say much more than that,’’ Peters said.
‘‘I’m going to do my best to correct the media’s erroneous implication to the Chinese.’’
Australia and the US have already blocked Huawei equipment from being used in their own 5G networks, and Canada is carrying out a security review.
All three countries are members of the Five Eyes intelligence network which New Zealand is also a part of. New Zealand’s decision has sparked calls for Britain, the final member not to stop Huawei, to follow our lead.
Huawei has repeatedly denied intelligence work for any government and is seeking an urgent meeting with ministers and officials. Huawei NZ deputy managing director Andrew Bowater said there was ‘‘no evidence of wrongdoing by Huawei presented and we strongly reject the notion that our business threatens New Zealand in any way’’.
The minister responsible for GCSB, Andrew Little, said the GCSB had not been approached by Australia or the US as part of its process.
He said the focus was on the particular proposal that Spark put forward – not Huawei itself.
‘‘Frankly the focus of the examination wasn’t on Huawei it was the particular proposal that Spark put up and whether or not that had the potential to be a threat to New Zealand’s national security.’’