Huawei hits back at Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘factually incorrect information’

Malcolm Turnbull said if Huawei was commissioned to build Britain’s network, it could compromise intelligence-sharing capa­bilities of Five Eyes countries.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: AAP

A senior Australian Huawei repres­entative has criticised former­ prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for using “factually incorrect­ information” to explain why the Chinese company should not deliver fifth-generation wireless technology to Britain.

Jeremy Mitchell, director of corporate affairs at Huawei Australia, said people deserved to be told “the truth on this ­matter” after an interview Mr Turnbull gave to the BBC on Tuesday, in which he said Huawei was beholden to Chin­ese authorities.

Australia followed the US in 2018 in banning Huawei Tech­nol­ogies and rival ZTE from the 5G mobile infrastructure rollout.

5G is billed as a next-genera­tion wireless technology that will provide connectivity behind driver­­less cars, virtual reality and other technology. Telstra and Optus have already switched on their 5G networks in limited areas, with Vodafone’s expected to go live this year.

Mr Turnbull said if Huawei was commissioned to build Britain­’s network, it could compromise­ the intelligence-sharing capa­bilities of Five Eyes countries the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Mr Turnbull was speaking in response to a challenge issued by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said that critics of Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier­ of telecoms equipment, should provide alternatives.

“Prudence would suggest that the better course of action is not to use high-risk vendors and 5G — there are alternatives, European alternatives,” Mr Turnbull said, naming Finland’s Nokia and ­Swe­d­en’s Ericsson as potential supp­liers. Both those firms manufacture products in China and are party to joint ventures with state-owned companies.

“The Five Eyes countries have been asleep at the switch in allowing China to own most of the companies that possess the capability to provide 5G networks,” Mr Turnbull said, adding that ­Huawei was unlikely to act with ­“malign intent” but was obligated under Chinese law to assist the country’s intelligence services.

The US has also previously warned that Huawei could be forced to spy on or disrupt ­networks on Beijing’s behalf.

The company has persistently denied sharing information with Chinese intelligence agencies and did so again in a statement after Mr Turnbull’s interview.

The EU released a report last year warning that hostile states and state-based actors posed a threat to 5G mobile networks­.