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Huawei complains about US spying allegations, implies McCarthy-style victimization
"We must remember always that accusation is not proof." So begins a report sponsored and published by Huawei, heavily quoting a 1954 US Senate report that condemned McCarthy and his anti-Communist hysteria. The document is a prelude to Huawei's forthcoming public testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee, and its message is clear: the Chinese manufacturer is tired of how it's being treated in America, where numerous telecoms contracts have been blocked over "national security concerns." Huawei wants to be seen as an "opportunity" rather than a "threat," claiming it has scope to expand its 140,000 workforce and would love to create more jobs in America -- if only the US government would remove its "roadblock." Many other arguments are put forward, but some of the most interesting paragraphs deal with the background of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei. The document claims that Zhengfei has been "tragically misunderstood" and that his alleged roles in the People's Liberation Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are "unsubstantiated." The report doesn't deny those memberships ever existed, but instead downplays their significance -- for example by insisting that the CCP is now focused on promoting "private entrepreneurs" and "democratization." We admittedly stopped reading at that point, but if you'd like to continue then the full 78-page PDF, written by Dan Steinbock of the India, China and America Institute, is linked below.
Huawei working with British spy service to prove its 'kit' is clean
Since Huawei's president formerly served as a senior engineer in the People's Liberation Army of China, it's unsurprising that it's raised the hackles of the US and other countries. It's been blocked from a variety of prime, security-sensitive contracts on suspicion of espionage, but the Chinese company seems bent on proving its honorable intentions, and has opened a "Cyber Security Evaluation Center" in Banbury, UK to do exactly that. According to the Economist, the company will work closely with GCHQ, the British signals-intelligence agency located in nearby Cheltenham, to persuade the UK and other governments that its equipment is trustworthy. It even has security-cleared staff, including some from the British agency, to shake down the gear and ensure it can't be exploited by spooks or crooks. Huawei already has hefty backbone contracts in Canada and New Zealand and is becoming one of the world's largest suppliers of telecom infrastructure, on top of its high ranking as a handset maker. It might hope this new approach will let it break its US and UK market logjam -- but it has a lot of pent-up distrust to overcome.
Huawei blocked from first responder network contract, US cites 'national security concerns'
The inability to win US government approval isn't exactly an unfamiliar issue for Huawei, which by now must be conditioned not to expect a nod from major US telecom companies. But now, The Daily Beast reports that the U.S. Commerce Department has made it very clear that the Chinese company won't have a role in building the country's new dedicated first responder wireless network. A spokesman wasn't shy about the reason, either, explaining that Huawei "will not be taking part in the building of America's interoperable wireless emergency network for first responders due to U.S. government national security concerns." And what about those national security concerns? Well, Huawei president Ren Zhengfei's former role as a People's Liberation Army technologist may have something to do with it, considering it wouldn't be unreasonable to suspect that he still has some fairly close ties to Chinese government officials. We haven't heard a peep from the feds regarding Huawei's invitation for US officials to investigate the company earlier this year, but it's safe to assume that the investigation either didn't go very well, or more likely that it hasn't happened at all. We imagine that whole corporate espionage debacle probably didn't help the company, either.
Chinese army creates nifty iOS propaganda app
When it comes to Chinese propaganda, you can already get the "Little Red Book" (Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung) in app form for your iPhone and iPad. Now the People's Liberation Army is getting into the fun with a new official app for iPhones and iPads that lets you stay on top of all the latest things happening in the happy world of the PLA. The app is a newsreader providing video, pictures, and press releases from official Chinese military outlets. State-run China Daily gushed about the app, saying that "The app was praised by many netizens. They said it is one of the great achievements by the Chinese military in promoting transparency." Retired PLA general and military strategist Peng Guangqian said that "cooperation with Apple is helping the ministry to form a new public image, one that is more open and modernized." Well, the PLA isn't exactly "cooperating" with Apple. The app can't be found on the App Store, and is only available on jailbroken devices. Couple that with the fact that China is a suspect in many hacking incidents against the American military and defense contractors, and it's not likely that many of the target market users are going to load the app on their iPhones.
