Groundless report threatens US jobs: Huawei

WASHINGTON - The groundless accusations by a US House committee against Huawei put tens of thousands of US jobs in jeopardy and are likely to cause huge damage to the US economy, says a Huawei executive.

William Plummer, the company's US vice-president of external affairs, voiced the warning on Monday in response to a House Intelligence Committee report that accuses Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE, of posing a threat to US national security.

The House report recommends that US government computer systems and private companies should exclude any equipment from the two firms. It also urges the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States to block acquisitions, takeovers, or mergers involving the two companies.

However, the 52-page report fails to give concrete evidence to support the accusations the committee leveled against Huawei, which Plummer said sustains hundreds of American companies and tens of thousands of American employees.

"The American people deserve validated facts if they are going to lose tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and billions of dollars procurement in US products and if they have to pay more for their broadband," Plummer told Xinhua.

Commenting on the conspiracy theory that Huawei colluded with the Chinese government in espionage against the United States, Plummer said that the allegation ignores both commercial and technical realities.

Firstly, he said, the report failed to recognize that the telecommunications industry features a global supply chain and that cyber vulnerability is a universal problem.

"What we need is a global standard that raised the bar for everyone," he said.

Secondly, as a profit-oriented business, Huawei is not going to jeopardize billions of dollars business for anyone, he added.

Thirdly, if a company conspires with a government to conduct espionage, thousands of its employees would be involved, which would render the conspiracy unrealistic, he said.

"It sets a very dangerous market distorting policy precedent that other markets now may choose to use against American companies doing business overseas," said Plummer.

Huawei, he said, has been cooperating openly and in good faith with the committee in the past 11 months, but the committee "never intends to conduct an objective investigation."

"We are trusted globally," said Plummer. "Five hundred operators in 150 countries, including major carriers in every developed and most developing markets, have deployed our gear without any issues."

Talking about business plans in future, Plummer said: "Our commitment to this market, to our customers, to our suppliers, to our employees, to their families is strong. Nothing changes."

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