US Claims Against Huawei Seen as Battle for 5G Networks

As China and the United States battle to control 5 G networks, US intelligence has claimed that Chinese state agencies have funded Huawei, one of the world’s leading telecom technology firms.

US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has accused Huawei of receiving funding from China’s National Security Commission, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and a third branch of the Chinese state intelligence network, British newspaper The Times reported Saturday, citing a source.

In reply to these allegations, a Huawei representative said, “The company does not comment on unsubstantiated allegations backed up by zero evidence from anonymous sources.”

The US also claims that Huawei’s equipment could be used for espionage. The company has said the concerns are unfounded.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer (CFO) and daughter of its founder, Ren Zhengfei, were arrested in Canada in December at the request of US on charges of bank and wire fraud in violation of US sanctions against Iran.

The US will push its allies at a meeting in Prague next month to adopt shared security and policy measures that will make it more difficult for Huawei to dominate 5G telecommunications networks, Reuters reported last week.