Huawei says it’s 'surprised' by report that US is pushing more foreign allies to blacklist its network services

Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecoms equipment vendor, said it was “surprised” by a Wall Street Journal report about the US government exerting increased pressure on foreign allies to ditch network services from the Chinese company on national security grounds.

US officials have briefed government counterparts and telecoms executives in friendly countries where Huawei equipment is already in wide use, including Germany, Italy and Japan, about what they see as cybersecurity risks, according to The Wall Street Journal's report on Friday, citing anonymous sources. The report also said that the US is considering increasing financial aid for telecoms development in countries that shun Chinese-made equipment.

“Huawei is surprised by the behaviours of the US government detailed in the article,” said Huawei in a statement on Friday. “If a government's behaviour extends beyond its jurisdiction, such activity should not be encouraged.”

Countries that buy Chinese network equipment and host American military bases are what concern the US authorities the most, according to the sources in the report. Most internet traffic at military installations travels through commercial networks despite the fact that the US Defense Department has its own satellites and telecoms network for sensitive communications.

The Shenzhen-based company, caught in a vortex between the world’s two largest economies amid an escalating trade and technology war, has faced several setbacks for its global businesses this year. The US government has blacklisted almost all of Huawei’s business in the country and is ramping up efforts to persuade allies to do the same, saying Huawei’s close ties with the Chinese government pose fundamental threats to national security.

Both Huawei and ZTE Corp, China’s other leading telecoms equipment vendor, have been excluded from building Australia’s 5G infrastructure after Canberra laid out new rules in August. The decision was made following reports by Australian media in February that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was briefed on US concerns about Chinese involvement in 5G networks during a meeting with the heads of the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security in the US.