Huawei threats action on ‘smear campaign’

Subjected to ‘an unprecedented and malicious campaign of smear and innuendo’, Huawei has reserved the right to take legal action.

Huawei lawyer Nick Xenophon. Picture: Emma Brasier

Chinese telco Huawei has been subjected to “an unprecedented and malicious campaign of smear and innuendo” and ­reserved the right to take legal action against organisations that “falsely” attacked the company as a state-owned security risk, its Australian lawyer, Nick Xenophon, said yesterday.

Mr Xenophon, a former South Australian independent senator who announced last year he had added the Chinese telecommunications giant to his client list, confirmed he would be taking part in the planned series of “town hall” meetings where Huawei executives will launch a national community-based charm offensive to improve the company’s reputation.

Mr Xenophon, who has returned to his career as an ­Adelaide-based plaintiff lawyer, said the campaign against Huawei was “probably the biggest vilification of any company in the history of Australia”.

“It’s the sort of thing you would expect against a company like James Hardie, not a business that is promising to be transparent and open and simply asking to be treated like everyone else,” Mr Xenophon said.

“The company has been unfairly maligned. It’s been an unprecedented campaign of smear and innuendo. This is a company that until not so long ago in Australia was employing close to 1000 people but has now reduced its workforce with hundreds of jobs shed.

“I am not here to criticise the Australian government but my hope is the decision will be revisited and looked at with the facts.”

The company is scheduling forums in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra next month entitled “Let’s Talk Huawei” as a part of a lobbying effort to convince the commonwealth to revisit its ban on Huawei operating Australia’s 5G network.

The company will also release “Let’s Talk Huawei” podcasts and use its sponsorship of the Canberra Raiders to publicise the road tour. 

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called Britain’s decision to approve Huawei’s entry into its 5G network a “serious error” and both Liberal and Labor MPs have warned China they will fight the tech giant’s bid to compete for 5G contracts in Australia. Asked whether it would be his role as a lawyer for Huawei to seek legal redress for being frozen out of the 5G contract, Mr Xenophon said the company had no intention of taking legal ­action against the commonwealth but simply wanted “open dialogue”.

Without naming names, Mr Xenophon said there were some think tanks that had used “total fabrications” to attack the company: “In terms of their mal­icious comments made against Huawei, that’s something that is being looked at. Huawei has been attacked as being a security risk. Not only is there no smoking gun, there’s not even a dribbling water pistol. These are incessant attacks on a company on the basis of where its headquarters are. They can’t keep saying things that are manifestly untrue about the company.”

Mr Xenophon said Huawei hoped that by opening itself to scrutiny, it could win public understanding and encourage the commonwealth to reconsider its ban.