US intelligence accuses Huawei of being funded by Chinese state security, newspaper reports
- Tech firm receives money from National Security Commission, People’s Liberation Army and a third branch of the state intelligence network, The Times quotes a source as saying
- Beleaguered firm says it ‘does not comment on unsubstantiated allegations backed up by zero evidence from anonymous sources’
US intelligence has accused Huawei Technologies of being funded by Chinese state security, The Times said on Saturday, adding to the list of allegations faced by the Chinese tech giant in the West.
Earlier this year, US intelligence shared its claims with the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group – Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the report said.
Huawei dismissed the allegations in a statement cited by the newspaper.
“Huawei does not comment on unsubstantiated allegations backed up by zero evidence from anonymous sources,” a company representative was quoted as saying.
The company, the CIA and China’s foreign ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The accusation comes at a time of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and amid concerns in the US that Huawei’s equipment could be used for espionage. The company has said the concerns are unfounded.
Authorities in the United States are probing Huawei for alleged sanctions violations.
She denies wrongdoing and her father has previously said the arrest was “politically motivated”.
Amid such charges, top educational institutions in the West have recently severed ties with Huawei to avoid losing federal funding.
US sanctions forced ZTE to stop most business between April and July last year after commerce department officials said it broke a pact and was caught illegally shipping US-origin goods to Iran and North Korea. The sanctions were lifted after ZTE paid US$1.4 billion in penalties.
Reuters reported earlier this week that 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.
