Why the west worries about Huawei
Canadian authorities have arrested Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, for potential extradition to the US, but behind this public drama is a long-running one centered on western intelligence agencies’ fears that Huawei poses a threat to their security.
The concerns: The fear is that China could exploit the telecom giant’s gear to wreak havoc in a crisis. Huawei is the biggest manufacturer of the core equipment mobile operators use to run networks. There’s a worry there could be hidden “kill switches” or poor controls on Huawei’s own suppliers, which could introduce insecurities. This will become even more important as 5G gets rolled out around the world.
Government interference: Behind all this is a suggestion that Huawei provides backdoors for Chinese government snooping.
No smoking gun: Huawei has repeatedly stressed it’s a private company owned by its employees. No security researchers have ever found backdoors in its products.
—Martin Giles and Elizabeth Woyke
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