Chinese telecom firm tied to spy ministry



Huawei made its presence at a wireless trade show in Las Vegas this year.  The Chinese telecommunications giant, said to have ties to China’s military, poses a risk to national security with its deal to supply components to a supercomputer lab that is a defense contractor. (Associated Press)



Warning:  Britain’s intelligence service MI-5 warned that equipment installed by Huawei in British Telecom’s networks could be used to disrupt critical services like power and transportation


A U.S. intelligence report for the first time links China’s largest telecommunications company to Beijing’s KGB-like intelligence service and says the company recently received nearly a quarter-billion dollars from the Chinese government.

Basically many Chinese companies act as arms of the Communist Party, the military and the Chinese State.  The companies do not seek individual profit alone, but unlike true private companies they seek to reach the global economic and political goals of the State.

The disclosures are a setback for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s efforts to break into the U.S. telecommunications market. The company has been blocked from doing so three times by the U.S. government because of concerns about its links to the Chinese government.

The report by the CIA-based Open Source Center states that Huawei’s chairwoman, Sun Yafang, worked for the Ministry of State Security (MSS) Communications Department before joining the company says the Washington Times.

The report on Huawei’s board members states that Ms. Sun used her connections at MSS to help Huawei through “financial difficulties” when the company was founded in 1987.

Based in part on Chinese media reports and Huawei’s website, the report reveals that the Beijing government paid Huawei $228.2 million for research and development during the past three years.

Huawei’s links to the Chinese military have been disclosed previously. The Open Source Center (OSC) report provides the first details of its links to Chinese intelligence, which U.S. officials have said has been engaged in a massive effort to acquire secrets and economic intelligence from government and private-sector computer networks around the world.

According to U.S. officials, senior Chinese government officials in recent months have pressed the Obama administration to allow Huawei to buy into the U.S. telecommunications market.

The Pentagon’s latest annual report on the Chinese military said China’s industry, including Huawei, is closely integrated with the military. “Information technology companies in particular, including Huawei, Datang and Zhongxing, maintain close ties to the PLA [People’s Liberation Army],” the report says.

Michelle K. Van Cleave, the former national counterintelligence executive and a senior counterspy policymaker, said China continues to view the United States as its main strategic enemy and is expanding aggressive intelligence operations here.

“Big companies like Huawei are business giants, but they’re also stalking horses for Chinese intelligence,” Ms. Van Cleave said. “They can provide both cover and entree for intelligence operations.”

China’s agents are targeting sensitive U.S. technologies through lawful purchase, theft and guile, including acquisitions and investments, she said.

“Two years ago, [Britain’s domestic intelligence service] MI-5 warned that equipment installed by Huawei in British Telecom’s networks could be used to disrupt critical services like power and transportation,” Ms. Van Cleave said. “The same could be true here if we don’t watch our backs.”

"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power."   - - - Benito Mussolini

Mussolini was right.  Many Chinese firms are not private, but a combination of private,
government and Communist Party working together towards the goals pf the State. 

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