Huawei warns EU ‘cannot succeed alone’ after network bans

As Europe continues its push towards its green and digital transitions, Huawei said the task “will not be easy” and stressed that no country can “succeed alone”, at the company’s annual conference in Paris on Tuesday (14 November).

The statements by Jim Lu, President of Huawei Europe, followed the European Commission’s recommendation in June to restrict or exclude high-risk vendors, including Huawei, from member states’ internal 5G networks.

The term ‘high-risk vendor’ is normally used to indicate suppliers of ICT equipment that might be at risk of colluding with a hostile power. Western countries grew increasingly wary of Huawei and other Chinese companies because China’s security law might force companies to disclose data to Beijing, Euractiv reported.

“It poses a major security risk and exposes the Union’s collective security since it creates a major dependency for the EU and serious vulnerabilities,” EU Commissioner Thierry Breton stated.

Attempting to gain the trust of the public sector, Huawei’s rotating chairman, Ken Hu, stressed on Tuesday that cyber security remains “our top priority”.

“We have opened cyber security and transparency centres in Brussels, Berlin and Rome, through these open platforms, we will continue to work with government agencies, customers and independent security organisations,” he said.

“Huawei is in Europe for Europe, and we look forward to working with you to build a greener, more digital and more secure future for all,” he added.

In this context, Huawei is stepping up its investments in Europe with an Innovation Centre for SMEs in Paris, which will help businesses with knowledge sharing and joint innovation, with an annual €2 million investment, as announced during the conference.

“Only by working together can we build the healthy ecosystem to enable Europe’s economy to thrive,” Vicky Zhang, vice president of corporate affairs at Huawei said.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]