‘I strongly declare I am innocent’: Huawei executive ‘Weijing W’, arrested in Poland, says he is not a Chinese spy
- The Chinese executive, fired by Huawei after his arrest, broke his silence to say espionage charges by Poland are ‘completely groundless and terribly hurtful’
- He said he ‘did not cooperate with any kind of intelligence, especially Chinese intelligence’
A Chinese executive of Huawei Technologies arrested earlier this month in Poland on suspicion of spying said on Friday he was not guilty in the case, which has drawn attention to what some Western countries say is a security risk from the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment company.
“With reference to my detention on January 8 under charges of alleged actions in foreign intelligence against Poland, I hereby strongly declare that I am innocent,” the man, who can be only partly identified as Weijing W. under Polish law, said in a statement sent by his lawyer. He has been widely identified as Wang Weijing.
Poland announced on January 11 it had arrested Weijing W. and a former Polish security official on spying allegations. Huawei said the following day that the executive had been fired.
The court has ordered the men held for up to three months pending further investigation.
Weijing W. also said that the charges against him are “completely groundless and terribly hurtful”.
“I have never consciously had contact with and I certainly did not cooperate with any kind of intelligence, especially Chinese intelligence,” the man said.