Chinese tech giant Huawei is gaining a foothold in Guyana, executing the contract for the laying of the fibre-optic cable from Lethem to Georgetown and building of a broadband network here while cementing itself as a major player in the mobile and tablet market.
However, lingering concerns over the company’s possible link to the Chinese military have been following it around and blocking possible investment opportunities.
The U.S. and Australia have already blocked Huawei from major telecoms projects in those countries. They have made it clear that they regard China’s largest telecommunications company as a potential security threat.
Lawmakers in the US have opposed sales of Huawei’s phone network equipment because of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei’s Chinese military background. He is said to be a former engineer in the China People’s Liberation Army.
Based on the advice of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Government banned Huawei from bidding for work on the country’s national broadband network over the concern that Huawei’s involvement could compromise national security.
Huawei is said to be the second largest telecommunications company in the world, second only to Sweden’s Ericsson.
Australia is said to be wary of the spate of hacking attempts aimed at international companies and the role that Chinese equipment providers are playing in this
Recently, the former head of U.S. counter-espionage said that the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper is putting North American security at risk by allowing Huawei to participate in major Canadian telecommunications projects.
Michelle K. Van Cleave in an interview in Washington told CBC News the involvement of Huawei Technologies in Canadian telecom networks risks turning the information highway into a freeway for Chinese espionage against both the U.S. and Canada.
Van Cleave said that the intelligence community fears digital ‘back doors’ could be hidden in the telecommunications networks, allowing for persons to tap American and Canadian secrets which they could use to disrupt everything from public utilities to military operations in the event of international conflict.
She says the U.S. government’s actions to prevent Huawei from taking over U.S. telecom companies, or participating in major infrastructure projects, “is the right thing to be doing.”
Huawei has argued that there is no evidence linking it to the growing incidents of international computer hacking and other forms of espionage originating in China.
Media reports in Canada said that even Canada’s own intelligence agencies have warned the Harper government of the risks of opening up the door to the Chinese telecom firm.
In April this year, a congressional panel approved a measure designed to search and clear the U.S. nuclear-weapons complex of technology produced by Chinese telecommunications companies accused of working closely with China’s government and military.
If passed into law, the measure could be a fresh blow to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in their efforts to overcome national security concerns that have stymied them in the lucrative U.S. market.
According to a Reuters report, Huawei and another Chinese tech company ZTE were singled out by name in the measure that the Republican-led House of Representatives’ Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee adopted as part of the 2013 defence authorization bill.
Earlier this year, Huawei advertised a number of vacancies here as it sought persons to fill some critical positions as the company commenced a new phase of its work on Guyana’s broadband platform.
The company in an advertisement said it is seeking wireless engineers, site
engineers for civil works, core engineer, transmission network engineers, datacom engineers, data centre engineers, a contract manager and driver among other positions. In March last year, the local branch of Transparency International called on the Auditor General to investigate whether the government’s use of Huawei’s US$50,000 “thank you gift” was in line with the rules governing public expenditure. The body had questioned government’s single-sourcing of the contract to lay the fibre optic cable to the Chinese company and called on the government to publicly address questions about the contract and the “gift”.
