The concerns over the national security of the United Kingdom from the use of telecommunication equipment supplied by the Chinese tech giant Huawei has drawn sharp criticism from the Beijing which has accused the UK of possessing “deep-rooted pride and prejudice” on the issue.

Complains of the company’s “incredibly unfair treatment” abroad were raised by the chairman of the Chinese company.

Warnings about the use of Huawei’s 5G kit presenting risks to security of UK and therefore warranted a fuller consideration were issued in recent weeks by UK’s Defence Secretary and chief of MI6.

Concerns over the company’s equipment have already been expressed by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and Japan.

According to allegations against the company, the Chinese government has the capacity to force Huawei to cause wilful disruption in telecom networks where equipment is supplied by the Chinese company is used or can even conduct espionage on the consumers using the equipment. .

Such charges have been repeatedly denied by Huawei. As a part of efforts to counter criticism, the Chinese tech company last week invited the media to visit its 5G and cyber-security research labs in Dongguan, Guangdong, in China.

Huawei has so far managed to beat most of its rivals such as Nokia and Ericsson in terms of cost and technical grounds and this has compelled many of its clients to opt for its products. The smartphones manufactured by the company has also gained popularity among consumers. In a recent announcement, Huawei had revealed that in 2018, it had shipped a total of more than 200 million handsets which makes is the second in terms of smartphone shipments and market share after Samsung

“We are ahead of others in domains like wireless, optical, data communications, and smart devices,” wrote chairman Guo Ping in a New Year’s message shared online.

“For 5G markets that choose to not work with Huawei – they will be like an NBA [National Basketball Association] game without star players: the game will go on, but with less deftness, flair, and expertise.”

The Global Times, an English-language government newspaper in China published the criticism of the UK by China.

Indications that the Chinese government could compromise Huawei’s technologies were “groundless”, claimed the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence Wu Qian during a press conference. According to the newspaper report, Wu’ made the comments in reaction to a statement by the Defence Secretary of UK – Gavin Williamson earlier this week who said: “We’ve got to recognise the fact, as has been recently exposed, that the Chinese state does sometimes act in a malign way.”

A separate editorial published in the newspaper urged the Chinese company to “calm down and carry on” – taking a cue from a popular phrase while using the Jane Austen novel title in its heading.

(Adapted from BBC.com)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Geopolitics, HR & Organization, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability, Uncategorized