Despite repeated warnings and scaremongering from Washington, Belgium’s center for cybersecurity has not found any evidence to suggest that equipment provided by Chinese telecom giant Huawei could be used for spying purposes.
The Belgian agency looked into potential threats posed by Huawei, but found no proof of any “spying threat” posed by using technology provided by the company, which supplies telecom equipment to Belgian mobile operators Proximus, Orange Belgium, and Telenet.
Huawei has been targeted in recent months by Washington and accused of being a threat to “national security.” In particular, US officials have said that the company’s 5G networks could enable Chinese cyber-espionage. The US has even threatened to stop sharing intel with countries which allow Huawei to build 5G infrastructure.
Also on rt.com Merkel on Huawei: Germany won’t exclude 5G providers just because they come from China“Until now we have not found technical indications that point in the direction of a spying threat,” a spokesman for the Belgian agency said on Monday, adding that it would not yet publish a final report on the matter and is “continuing to look into it.”
The US has already banned federal agencies from using Huawei products as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign of economic pressure against China. The ban prompted a lawsuit from Huawei which claims it “restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition” and notes that the US has “repeatedly failed to produce any evidence” to justify its restrictions on the Chinese company’s products.
Also on rt.com ‘Blatant extortion’: German ex-chancellor lashes out at US threat to withhold intel over ChinaWashington has also been pressuring European countries into similarly banning Huawei technology, although its efforts have been mostly unsuccessful. In March, the European Commission ignored US calls to ban Huawei, but urged member states to continue assessing any cybersecurity threats.
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei sarcastically thanked the Trump administration in February for talking about the alleged threat so much, which he said ultimately was helping to “promote” the technology.
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