Huawei 华为
Huawei is a Chinese multinational telecommunications company. It was founded in 1987 by ex-People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer and current president Ren Zhengfei 任正非. It is a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest telecom carriers. However, it is accused by numerous media outlets of having covert links with the Chinese government and installing technological ‘backdoors’ into its equipment that allow China to obtain confidential information. Huawei has consistently denied these allegations.
Huawei opened an Australian office in Sydney in 2004, expressed interest in providing infrastructure for Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) in 2009 and appointed an Australian board — its first local board — in 2011.
Huawei appeared to have a good chance to participate in the NBN. Its Australian board included former foreign minister Alexander Downer, former Victorian premier John Brumby and retired rear admiral John Lord. Huawei also received private endorsement from the NBN Company following a 2010 staff visit to the Huawei headquarters. Being allowed to participate in the NBN would have made it harder for the US to justify its continued exclusion of Huawei.
In March 2012, it was reported that Huawei had been informed by the Attorney-General’s Department in late 2011 that it would be barred from tendering for NBN contracts on national security grounds, based upon advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) concerning Huawei and Chinese cyber warfare.
Huawei’s Australian board expressed dismay at the ‘completely absurd’ decision, pointing to its role in national broadband projects in the UK and New Zealand, and its existing Australian mobile network contracts with Vodafone and Optus. Offers to set up an independent Huawei testing centre were ignored by government agencies. Huawei made a submission to the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper emphasising its commitment to Australia and warning that ‘outdated fears’ of China would harm the Australian technology sector and economy. The then-opposition Liberal Party lambasted the Labor government for imperilling Chinese foreign direct investment.
In October 2013, following pre-election talk by then opposition communications spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull about reviewing the Gillard government’s position, after ASIO briefings the new Abbott government upheld the Huawei NBN ban on national security grounds. The decision was criticised both by Huawei and by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the issue was reportedly raised by China in bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Huawei continued campaigning to improve its public image in Australia. It sponsored a local rugby team, the Canberra Raiders, and funded trips to China for senior political figures from both major parties.
Huawei’s smartphones, mobile equipment and network technology are selling increasingly well in Australia, with Huawei reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and revenue growth of eighteen percent in the 2014 financial year. In April 2015, Huawei signed a five-year sponsorship agreement with the Gold Coast Suns Australian rules football (AFL) club.
Links:
- Huawei Australia.
- Huawei Australia, ‘Submission to the Australia in the Asian Century Issues Paper’.
March 2008
- Marcus Browne, ‘Optus opens up mobile research shop with Huawei’, ZDNet, 20 May 2008.
June 2011
- Michael Sainsbury, ‘Huawei Names John Brumby, Alexander Downer Board Members’, The Australian, 6 June 2011.
March 2012
- Avi Jorisch, ‘Do Downer and Brumby Support Huawei in Iran?’, The Australian, 15 March 2012.
- Alexander Downer, ‘Who’s afraid of China’, The Australian, 22 March 2012.
- Geoffrey Barker and David Ramli, ‘China’s Huawei Banned From NBN’, Australian Financial Review, 24 March 2012.
- John McDuling, ‘ASIO Forced NBN to Dump Huawei’, Australian Financial Review, 26 March 2012.
- ABC, ‘Chinese Company Shut Out From NBN Tendering’, ABC News, 26 March 2012.
- IT-Pro, ‘Chinese Tech Giant Huawei Courts MPs’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March 2012.
- Justin O’Brien, ‘Coldplay: No Paradise in Australia for Huawei’, The Conversation, 27 March 2012.
- Adam Lockyer, ‘What the Huawei Case Tells Us About the Australia, US, China Nexus’, The Conversation, 28 March 2012.
- ABC, ‘China hits back at NBN bid rejection’, ABC News, 29 March 2012.
- Enda Curran, ‘Australia defends move against Huawei’, The Wall Street Journal, 29 March 2012.
- Paul Maley, ‘Probe in UK led to Huawei NBN ban’, The Australian, 29 March 2012.
- John Lee, ‘Huawei and the NBN: Beware the Long Arm of the CCP’, The Conversation, 30 March 2012.
- Brian Corrigan, ‘Huawei signs Canberra Raiders sponsorship deal’, Australian Financial Review, 30 March 2012.
- James Massola, ‘Huawei Sidestep Scores Sponsorship Deal with NRL’s Canberra Raiders’, The Australian, 30 March 2012.
- Harrison Polites, ‘Huawei changes marketing tactics with Canberra Raiders sponsorship deal’, Technology Spectator, 30 March 2012.
- ABC, ‘Chinese tech firm signs deal with Canberra Raiders’, ABC News, 30 March 2012.
- Gillian Tan, ‘Huawei turns to NRL’s Canberra Raiders for Aussie image’, The Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2012.
April 2012
- Kan Shao, ‘History is the key to understanding Huawei’, The Conversation, 3 April 2012.
August 2012
- The Economist, ‘Who’s Afraid of Huawei?’, The Economist, 4 August 2012.
- Geoff Kitney, ‘Huawei Pleads for a Fair Go After NBN Ban’, Australian Financial Review, 17 August 2012.
- Mathew Dunckley, James Massola and Michaela Whitbourn, ‘Huawei’s NBN Ban Needs Review, Says Turnbull’, Australian Financial Review, 28 August 2012.
September 2012
- Angus Grigg, ‘Huawei Says It Will Never Support Spying’, Australian Financial Review, 5 September 2012.
- Gillian Tan, ‘Huawei wants an ASX listing, just not now’, The Wall Street Journal, 26 September 2012.
October 2012
- BBC, ‘Huawei and ZTE Pose Security Threat, Warns US Panel’, BBC News, 8 October 2012.
- Jill Stark, ‘US Follows Australia in Naming Huawei as a Possible Security Threat’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October 2012.
- Charis Palmer, ‘Government ban on Chinese tech giant gets US support’, The Conversation, 9 October 2012.
- AAP, ‘Huawei Hits Back at NBN Plan’, Business Spectator, 25 October 2012.
- Simon Cullen, ‘Huawei offers unrestricted access to software code’, ABC News, 25 October 2012.
November 2012
- Ross Peake, ‘Huawei Ban Still Rankles Chinese’, Canberra Times, 19 November 2012.
January 2013
- ABC, ‘Huawei profit jumps to $2.4b’, ABC News, 22 January 2013.
March 2013
- Peter Cai, ‘Huawei Still Pushes NBN Deal’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 2013.
June 2013
- Stephen McDonell, ‘Chinese telco Huawei tries to shake off spy image after NBN ban’, ABC News, 11 June 2013.
July 2013
- Adam Bender, ‘Huawei trains Australian ICT students in China’, Computer World, 1 July 2013.
- Richard McGregor, ‘Huawei spied for China, claims ex-CIA head Michael Hayden’, CNBC, 18 July 2013.
- Christopher Joye, ‘Huawei Spies for China, Says ex-CIA Chief’, Australian Financial Review, 19 July 2013.
- Leo D’Angelo Fisher, ‘More Questions for Huawei Mean More Questions for Downer and Brumby’, BRW, 19 July 2013.
- Huawei, ‘Huawei Re-Signs with Canberra Raiders: “Let’s Get the NRL on the Wei to China”’, Media Release, 19 July 2013.
August 2013
- Peter Cai, ‘Huawei’s Australian Directors Get Two More Years in Job’, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2013.
September 2013
- Michael Bleby, ‘Huawei dangles R&D carrot as it looks to come in from the cold’, BRW, 27 September 2013.
October 2013
- Nassim Khadem, ‘Coalition may relax Huawei NBN ban’, Australian Financial Review, 21 October 2013.
- Lucy Battersby and Philip Wen, ‘Huawei linked to China deal’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 2013.
- ABC, ‘Government Maintains NBN Ban on Chinese Telco Huawei After Security Briefings’, ABC News, 29 October 2013.
- Maggie Lu Yueyang, ‘New Australian government upholds ban on China’s Huawei’, Reuters, 29 October 2013.
- Stephen McDonnell, ‘China Criticises Government’s Decision to Uphold NBN Ban on Telco Huawei’, ABC News, 30 October 2013.
- Jonathan Swan, ‘Joe Hockey says no to Huawei investment in NBN’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October 2013.
- Peter Cai and Jonathan Swan, ‘Chinese ban stirs backlash calls’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 2013.
- Peter Cai and Jonathan Swan, ‘Huawei ban ‘puts China trade deal in danger’’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 2013.
- Ken Shao, ‘Australia’s Biggest “China Threat” is Not Huawei, But Itself’, The Conversation, 31 October 2013.
November 2013
- Peter Cai, ‘Huawei “Extremely Disappointed” with NBN Ban’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 November 2013.
- Greg Sheridan, ‘Tony Abbott Says Huawei Ban Will Stay’, The Australian, 1 November 2013.
- Mitchell Bingemann, ‘Chinese telco Huawei plans on success in Australia despite NBN ban’, The Australian, 1 November 2013.
- Ben Packham, ‘Malcolm Turnbull denies he’s victim of ‘slap down’ over Huawei cyber security’, The Australian, 1 November 2013.
- David Ramli, ‘Turnbull briefed on Huawei security issues’, Australian Financial Review, 1 November 2013.
- Christopher Joye and John Kerin, ‘Global digital wars take Australia hostage’, Australian Financial Review, 2 November 2013.
- ‘The claims against Huawei’, Australian Financial Review, 4 November 2013.
- Fleur Anderson, ‘Huawei Pledges its Long-Term Future to Australia’, Australian Financial Review, 7 November 2013.
- Jane Golley, ‘A Perfect Storm in Australia-China Bilateral Relations’, East Asia Forum, 20 November 2013.
- Angus Grigg, ‘Huawei Ban May Put Free-Trade with China Talks On Hold’, Australian Financial Review, 22 November 2013.
- Claude Barfield, ‘Australia Leaves Huawei Standing at the Altar’, East Asia Forum, 24 November 2013.
February 2014
- David Ramli, ‘Huawei plans local charm offensive’, Australian Financial Review, 27 February 2014.
- Bryan Connolly, ‘Huawei appoints new local boss’, Computer World, 27 February 2014.
May 2014
- Fergus Ryan, ‘How the China lobby is building a Great Wall of influence’, China Spectator, 5 May 2014.
- Paul Smith and Christopher Joye, ‘NSA spy praises Huawei ban’, Australian Financial Review, 7 May 2014.
- Christopher Joye, ‘Interview transcript: former head of the NSA and commander of the US cyber command, General Keith Alexander’, Australian Financial Review, 7 May 2014.
June 2014
- Jon Tuxworth, ‘Huawei re-signs with Canberra Raiders, boosts China game hopes’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 2014.
September 2014
- Chris Griffith, ‘Chinese join rush to enter handset market’, The Australian, 2 September 2014.
- Rebecca Brediceanu, ‘Media’s approach to “Chinese cyber threats” too simplistic’, UTS News, 2 September 2014.
October 2014
- David Swan, ‘Exclusive: Huawei working on universal mobile device says Australian chairman’, iTWire, 2 October 2014.
November 2014
- Stilgherrian, ‘Chinese smartphone maker Huawei wants a piece of Apple’s pie’, Crikey, 12 November 2014.
- Chris Griffith, ‘Huawei launches cheap 8-core premium phone in Australia’, The Australian, 12 November 2014.
February 2015
- William Maher, ‘Huawei makes splash in Westfield shopping centres’, CRN, 5 February 2015.
- Harry Tucker, ‘Huawei, Oppo and other Chinese brands are worth your attention’, News.com.au, 13 February 2015.
- Peter Cai, ‘Huawei’s Aussie model goes global’, China Spectator, 17 February 2015.
March 2015
- Adam Bender, ‘Huawei invites Australian ICT undergraduates to China’, Computer World, 12 March 2015.
- Wenlei Ma, ‘Chinese tech giant Huawei wants Aussie students’, News.com.au, 17 March 2015.
April 2015
- Rohan Pearce, ‘In brief: Huawei’s Australian revenue up 18 per cent’, Computer World, 1 April 2015.
- Chris Griffith, ‘Australia ranked among top dozen digital economies: Huawei’, The Australian, 22 April 2015.
- Chris Griffith, ‘Huawei upbeat about its growth in Australia’, The Australian, 28 April 2015.
- Chris Griffith, ‘Huawei P8 to lead Chinese move on smartphone market’, The Australian, 28 April 2015.
June 2015
- Angus Grigg, ‘Huawei’s epic PR fail’, Australian Financial Review, 9 June 2015.