Switzerland should take heed of this warning. Huawei is already managing and developing the 5G network for the Swiss telecoms company, Sunrise. In mid-August, on the occasion of Doris Leuthard's (Federal Councilor and Swiss communications minister) visit to Shenzhen, Eric Xu, Director of Huawei, promised "massive investments" in Switzerland, with the aim of opening two research and development centres in Lausanne and Zurich. The aim would be to approach the polytechnic schools (EPFL). When contacted on this point, Huawei stated that it "was still in the negotiation phase for these two centers". (ref:
"Banned by several countries, Huawei wants to expand in Switzerland" - article in French).
In July this year, several newspapers reported that after leaving Parliament, Doris Leuthard would become a member of a group working on the global governance of digitization. Set up by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the 22-member group will be led by Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft's founder and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Jack Ma, founder of China's Alibaba e-commerce group. The other members are representatives of government authorities, the private sector, the scientific community and civil society. (ref.
ICT Journal - article in French).
Europe should be wary of Huawei, EU tech official says
by
Francesco Guarascio,
Foo Yun Chee, Reuters, 7 December 2018
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European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip attends the GovTech Summit at Paris city hall, France, November 12, 2018. Reuters/Charles Platiau |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should be worried about Huawei [HWT.UL] and other Chinese technology companies because of the risk they pose to the bloc’s industry and security, the EU’s technology chief said on Friday, echoing concerns raised elsewhere in the world.
Huawei expressed disappointment at EU tech commissioner Andrus Ansip’s comments, saying it had never been asked to install technology that could be used for spying and never would.
“Do we have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies? Yes, I think we have to be worried about those companies,” Ansip told a news conference in Brussels, days after a top executive at Huawei was arrested in Canada as part of an investigation into alleged bank fraud.