Huawei frustrated by US government rumours

SHENZHEN, CHINA: Huawei's chief legal officer has hit out at rumours surrounding the company's supposed connections with the Chinese government, arguing that they are without merit and have hampered the firm's ability to do business in the US.

Song Liuping told V3.co.uk at the firm's headquarters in southern China that the impression some members of the US government had presented of Huawei in the media were incorrect and unfair.

"Rumours from some congressmen and in the media are not aligned with the truth, particularly with [rumoured] military and government connections," he said.

"As a huge global company there are many ways to access Huawei and get to know the company, so we believe that if decisions are only based on rumours it is not reasonable."

Liuping added that Huawei has close ties with several US technology firms, including IBM and Intel, and has been involved with cross-licensing agreements with the likes of Nokia and Qualcomm for almost a decade.

His comments come after Huawei pulled out of a deal to acquire storage firm 3Leaf after the Committee of Foreign Investment in the US raised concerns about Huawei's supposed links to the Chinese government.

The issue prompted Huawei's US chairman, Ken Hu, to write an open letter to the US government asking it to talk to the company about its concerns directly so that they could work together.

Richard Brennan, vice president of industry standards at Huawei, added that colleagues at other major technology firms in the US have wondered "who is doing the whispering" to the US government about Huawei.

Speaking of other legal issues, Liuping explained that the timing of a Huawei lawsuit against rival ZTE so soon after the end of legal hostilities with Motorola was mere coincidence.

However, he was unable to provide any further comment on the litigation as it is ongoing.