Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., China’s two largest phone-equipment makers, provide opportunities for Chinese intelligence services to tamper with U.S. telecommunications networks for spying, according to a congressional report to be released today.
The House intelligence committee report says the two companies failed to cooperate with a yearlong investigation and to adequately explain their U.S. business interests and relationship with the Chinese government, according to a draft provided by the panel.
“Based on available classified and unclassified information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems,” says the report , from the committee’s chairman, Michigan Republican Mike Rogers, and its top Democrat, Maryland Representative C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger.
The House investigation found “credible” reports of illegal behavior by Huawei, including immigration violations, bribery and corruption, based on statements from current and former employees, according to the report. Allegations will be referred to federal agencies including the Homeland Security and the Justice departments, according to the report, which didn’t provide full details or identify the accusers.
“Huawei is a globally trusted and respected company doing business in almost 150 markets with over 500 operator customers, including nationwide carriers across every continent save Antarctica,” William Plummer, a Washington-based spokesman for Huawei, said in an e-mail before the draft report was made available. “The security and integrity of our products are world proven. Those are the facts.”
Economic Espionage
Rogers and Ruppersberger announced the probe of the Chinese companies last November, citing concerns about Chinese hacking into U.S. systems and theft of intellectual property. U.S. counterintelligence officials called China the world’s biggest perpetrator of economic espionage in a report last year, saying the theft of sensitive data is accelerating and jeopardizing an estimated $398 billion in U.S. research spending.
“Private-sector entities in the United States are strongly encouraged to consider the long-term security risks associated with doing business with either ZTE or Huawei for equipment or services,” the report says.
Internal Huawei documents supplied by a former company employee showed that Huawei provides “special network services” to an entity the former employee believes is an “elite cyber-warfare unit” within the Chinese army, according to the report. The documents “appear authentic” and suggest Huawei officials weren’t forthcoming about research and development on the military’s behalf, the report says.
Military Ties
The report describes a series of meetings between the panel’s members and representatives of the two companies.
Ruppersberger and Minnesota Republican Representative Michele Bachmann were among those who met in Hong Kong last May with Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder and chief executive officer. Ren founded Huawei in 1987 after leaving the Chinese army, and his military ties have been a focus of attention by U.S. lawmakers.
Executives for Huawei and ZTE, both based in Shenzhen, China, denied links to Chinese espionage at an intelligence committee hearing last month, telling lawmakers they aren’t controlled by the Chinese government. The companies said they favor independent audits of technology vendors’ hardware and software as a way to ensure that devices and networks are secure.
Market Roadblocks
The report’s conclusions may create more U.S. roadblocks for the Chinese companies in the U.S. market.
Huawei has backed away from business deals after U.S. objections, dropping a bid with Bain Capital Partners LLC to buy computer-equipment maker 3Com Corp. in 2008, and unwinding the purchase of patents from a computer-services company, 3Leaf Systems Inc., last year. The U.S. Commerce Department last year barred Huawei from participating in a nationwide emergency network, citing security concerns.
The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an interagency panel that reviews acquisitions of domestic companies by non-U.S. entities, should block acquisitions involving Huawei and ZTE because of security threats, the intelligence committee report says.
Huawei had about $1.3 billion in U.S. revenue last year, up from $760 million in 2010, Plummer said in an interview last month. About $1.2 billion of U.S. revenue came in sales of gear such as smartphones and tablet computers, he said. ZTE doesn’t break out U.S. sales.
With the political scrutiny intensifying, Huawei has stepped up its presence in Washington. The company has hired six lobbying firms and spent $820,000 on lobbying in the first six months of this year, compared with $200,000 during the same period in 2011, according to U.S. Senate records.
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