Exclusive | British universities wrestle with anxiety over links to Chinese tech giant Huawei: investigation
- Academic staff have, among other reactions, avoided contact with the company and cautioned against collaboration, according to internal communications obtained by the South China Morning Post under Britain’s Freedom of Information Act
- Top US universities such as Princeton and Stanford have rejected funds from Huawei amid growing pressure from Washington
Emails among staff sent between December and January, obtained through requests made in January under Britain’s Freedom of Information Act, showed they had avoided contact with Huawei, expressed worries about the heightened scrutiny of the company affecting their work and suggested caution in collaborating with it.
The staff were from King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, the University of Manchester, and Imperial College London.
A member of King’s College London’s Department of Informatics gave a particularly candid account of rebuffing Huawei, in an email written after British MPs warned universities in December to exercise caution before accepting funding from the company.
“For exactly that reason … I kept them away,” said the person, whose name was redacted from the email sent on December 13. “We have calls every week from them but I consistently decline.”