China's Huawei seeks US government probe
Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Friday urged the US government to investigate the company, arguing "unfounded accusations" and "falsehoods" had jeopardised its operations in the United States.
Huawei said this week it had taken the "difficult decision" to abandon its acquisition of US computer firm 3Leaf Systems after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States voiced security concerns about the deal.
"We sincerely hope that the United States government will carry out a formal investigation on any concerns it may have about Huawei," deputy chairman Ken Hu said in a 2,100-word letter posted on the company's website.
In the letter, Hu said Huawei's business in the United States has been impacted by "a number of misperceptions" over the past decade, and again rejected accusations it was closely connected to the Chinese military and backed by the government.
Huawei, founded 23 years ago by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army engineer, is at the forefront of efforts by Chinese firms to shift from being the world's workshop to becoming creators of genuine global brands.
It has long rejected claims that it has ties to the Chinese military. Huawei says it is owned by its employees and that Ren, its chief executive, has less than a two percent stake in the company.
"Mr Ren is just one of the many CEOs around the world who have served in the military," Hu said in the letter. Huawei only offers telecommunication equipment in line with civil standards, he added.
"No one has ever offered any evidence that Huawei has been involved in any military technologies at any time."
However, in a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a group of top lawmakers accused Huawei of having "ties with the People's Liberation Army, the Taliban, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard".
But Hu said there was "no evidence that Huawei has violated any security rules".
"The allegation that Huawei somehow poses a threat to the national security of the United States has centred on a mistaken belief that our company can use our technology to steal confidential information ... or launch network attacks," Hu said.
Huawei's consumer products include smartphones that run on Google's Android platform and technology to connect laptops to the Internet using 3G networks.
Its technology is also used to build mobile phone networks around the world. The company has reportedly offered to install for free a network worth £50 million ($80.6 million) on the London Underground train system in time for the 2012 Olympics.
3Leaf makes software that allows computer resources to be reallocated according to a user's needs across a computer network.
(c) 2011 AFP
