US government claims Huawei and ZTE pose a risk to national security: the accusations, responses, and fallout – The Verge

ZTE’s probation for selling US-made products to Iran and North Korea comes to an end

2022-03-23T12:31:54-04:00

ZTE's probation in the US is coming to an end following a Texas judge's ruling on Tuesday, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The Chinese telecommunications company had been under supervision by the US government since pleading guilty to illegally selling American-made equipment in Iran and North Korea in 2017. ZTE incurred a $1.2 billion fine as a result of violating US sanctions against both countries.

The judge decided not to punish ZTE for alleged visa fraud

As the WSJ notes, US District Judge Ed Kinkeade decided not to punish ZTE for alleged visa fraud, which is the subject of a separate case that's currently underway i …

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Congress wants to block the Trump administration from weakening Huawei restrictions

2019-07-16T11:21:13-04:00

A group of senators introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation Tuesday that would limit the Trump administration's abilities to scale back pressure on the Chinese tech giant Huawei without an act of Congress.

The Defending America's 5G Future Act, led by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), would block the Trump administration from single-handedly allowing Huawei to conduct business with American companies. If approved, it would also keep the Commerce Department from removing the Chinese company from its "Entity List," codifying a recent Trump administration executive order. That list prevents companies like Huawei from pu …

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Huawei will help build Britain’s 5G network, despite security concerns

2019-04-23T18:54:18-04:00

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has signed off on letting Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei help build "non-core" parts of the country's 5G infrastructure, including antennas and other network components, according to The Telegraph. The decision was made today by the National Security Council, of which May is the chair, and has drawn considerable criticism from other UK politicians who fear Huawei's supposed ties to the Chinese government may open British citizens, companies, and government agencies to cyberattacks and other forms of espionage.

GCQQ head Jeremy Fleming, who has warned against cyberthreats from China and Russia in the pa …

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Canada will let the US extradite Huawei’s CFO

2019-03-01T14:28:55-05:00

The Canadian government will allow the US to extradite Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. Canada's Department of Justice announced today that the decision "follows a thorough and diligent review of the evidence in this case." It called the evidence the US presented "sufficient." The government's decision will now be heard by a judge, who will determine whether the extradition process will move forward.

Meng, who's also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver in December and held on charges of fraud. Meng served on the board for a Hong Kong-based company called Skycom, which allegedly did business with Iran between 2009 …

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Huawei founder speaks out: ‘The US can’t crush us’

2019-02-18T17:29:37-05:00

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei basically just said his company is too big and too important to fail.

In his first public interview since his daughter - Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou - was arrested in December, he tells the BBC that the US government's accusations and criminal indictments, including fraud and the theft of trade secrets, won't be enough to "crush" Huawei.

"There's no way the US can crush us," he said. "The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced. Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit."

Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the request of US law enforcement, and t …

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The DNC tells Democrats not to buy Huawei or ZTE devices ever

2018-08-03T18:41:47-04:00

The Democratic National Committee is warning Democrats not to use Huawei or ZTE devices, after the committee learned that one of its associated organizations was thinking of purchasing ZTE phones for members. "It's very important that party and campaign workers not use ZTE or Huawei devices, even if the price is low or free," DNC chief security officer Bob Lord wrote in an internal memo, as reported by CNN. Lord said people shouldn't be using devices from either Chinese company for work or personal use.

The words echo what federal officials have already said about Huawei and ZTE posing possible security threats to the US. In February, CIA, …

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The NSA has reportedly been spying on Huawei’s servers for years

2014-03-22T14:53:00-04:00

The US government has made definitive statements about Chinese telecommunications company Huawei - a 2012 report claimed that the company's networking equipment posed a national security risk, something that caused the company to largely retreat from operating in the US market. Somewhat ironically, however, the US government appears to be doing something very similar to what it accused Huawei of. The New York Times is reporting that the NSA has created its own "back doors" directly into Huawei's telecommunications networks for the purpose of collecting information on the vast array of hardware that the company claims connects a third of the …

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US urges South Korea to move network traffic away from Chinese hardware, citing spying concerns

2014-02-14T07:37:40-05:00

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The South Korean government has decided to route sensitive data away from networks operated by Huawei, amid longstanding fears from the US that the Chinese company's infrastructure could be used to spy on communications. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the US had been urging its South Korean allies to route government communications away from Huawei networks, claiming that the infrastructure could be used to spy on communications with American military bases there. As a result, Huawei equipment will not be used at any American military base in South Korea.

The Obama administration denies playing a role in the decision, and South Korean …

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Huawei issues definitive statement about espionage fears: ‘we have never been asked to provide access to our technology’

2013-10-18T22:00:05-04:00

Huawei (STOCK)

Would Huawei spy for the Chinese government? That's a question that cost the telecom equipment provider plenty of money last year. After the US government said the company posed a national security risk, Huawei was forced to take its networking business elsewhere. Huawei has repeatedly denied the charges, but today it's issuing perhaps the most definitive denial yet. The company says it has never even been asked to spy on anyone.

In a new cybersecurity whitepaper (PDF) issued today by the company, Huawei deputy chairman of the board Ken Hu writes that Huawei has "never been asked to provide access to our technology, or provide any data or inf …

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Huawei lashes out against ‘racist’ treatment and ‘defamation’ by governments

2013-07-18T13:30:54-04:00

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Huawei is going on the offensive against politicians and critics, claiming that they've subjected the company to racist treatment and slander because of its Chinese heritage. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have subjected Huawei - a major manufacturer of networking equipment - to additional scrutiny over concerns that it could covertly assist state-sponsored hacking from China. There's been a lot of talk, but Huawei doesn't think there's been a lot of evidence. "Someone says they got some proof of some sort of threat? Okay," William Plummer, vice president of external affairs at Huawei, said in a statement to The Verge. "Then p …

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