Andrus Ansip
VicePresident, European Commission
Dear VicePresident Ansip,
We feel compelled to write to you, as a matter of urgency, following the remarks you made
about Huawei at a press conference in Brussels on 7 December.
We are particularly concerned about the allegation you made that Huawei is obliged to
cooperate with Chinese intelligence services through “mandatory backdoors” in our
telecommunications equipment installed in Europe, with a view to us opening our systems so
that they can be used to gather national security sensitive information in the countries in
which Huawei subsidiaries operate.
This is simply not true. Huawei has never been asked by any government to build any
“backdoors”, or interrupt any networks, and we would never tolerate such behaviour by any
of our staff. Cyber security has always been our top priority and we have a proven track record
of providing secure products and solutions for customers around the world.
In order to help quell these concerns about alleged Chinese government interference in
Huawei foreign subsidiaries, we have sought legal advice on the matters you were
commenting on at the press conference on 7 December. We attach this confidential advice,
supplied to us by the law firm Chen & Co. on 4 December, for your information and we would
be grateful if you would read it carefully.
It clearly states that Chinese laws “do not directly oblige foreign telecommunication
equipment manufacturers, such as the Huawei overseas subsidiaries, to cooperate with any
request by the Chinese government to use their systems or access them in any manner…”
The advice also concludes that Chinese national intelligence law “does not authorize the
Chinese government to order Huawei (including its overseas subsidiaries)… to hack into
products it makes and sells to spy on or disable communications”.
Huawei Technologies
EU Public Affairs and Communication
Chaussée d’Etterbeek 180
B1040 Brussels
+32 2 235 1391