Huawei says Australian government wrong to block it from supplying 5G on security grounds

Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment vendor, said Australia’s decision to bar it and ZTE Corp from taking part in the country’s 5G infrastructure development was made on political grounds, a move that undermined fair trade and hurt the interests of local consumers.

“The Australian government’s decision to block Huawei from Australia’s 5G market is politically motivated, not the result of a fact-based, transparent, or equitable decision-making process,” Huawei said in a statement on Friday.

The decision is not aligned with the long-term interests of the Australian people, and denies Australian businesses and consumers the right to choose from the best communications technology available, Huawei said, adding that a non-competitive market will raise the cost of network construction and have lasting effects on Australia’s transition to a digital economy. In the end, everyday businesses and consumers are the ones who will suffer the most from the government’s actions, Huawei said.

Both Huawei and ZTE, the two leading Chinese telecoms equipment makers which invest heavily on research and development of next-generation networks, have been excluded from building Australia’s 5G infrastructure after Canberra laid out new rules on Thursday. The government barred the involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law, as that may result in failure to adequately protect the 5G network from unauthorised access or interference, it said.

Though the security guidance to Australian carriers did not name any telecoms equipment supplier, Huawei said in a Twitter post that it has been informed by the government that Huawei and ZTE have been banned from providing 5G technology to the country.

“This is an extremely disappointing result for consumers. Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely and securely delivered wireless technology in Australia for close to 15 year,” Huawei Australia said in a post on Twitter on Thursday.

Canberra’s latest decision on Huawei and ZTE also came at a time as the trade war between China and the US escalates. Both sides slapped 25 per cent tariffs on another US$16 billion of each other’s imports on Thursday. China’s Vice-Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen was also in Washington for talks with US Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass, trying to defuse tensions between the two largest economies in the world.