Michael Hayden, former CIA director, said on Friday, in Australia, that it “goes without saying” that the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies spying for Beijing. Hayden told the Australian Financial Review that China is engaged in “unrestricted espionage” against the West and that he believes that Huawei group have shared information with state agencies. Asked if he believes that Huawei would be an obvious threat to the national security of the United States and Australia, Hayden replied “yes, I believe it does.”
United Kingdom, United States and Australia have expressed concern about alleged links between Huawei and the Chinese state, and the fact that equipment provided by the company could be used for spying.
Huawei denies any direct connection with the Chinese government, but the U.S. Congress last year asked the group to be excluded from public contracts. The Chinese technology company was also excluded from tenders for contracts in the field of high-speed Internet network in Australia.
Hayden, a retired general, said he believes Western intelligence networks have solid reports that Huawei had spied on behalf of the Chinese government.
“I see no reason to question the belief that’s the case,” said Michael Hayden, who left the CIA in 2009 and was previously director of the National Security Agency (NSA). “That’s my professional judgement. But as the former director of the NSA, I cannot comment on specific instances of espionage or any operational matters. And, at a minimum, Huawei would have shared with the Chinese state intimate and extensive knowledge of the foreign telecommunications systems it is involved with. I think that goes without saying,” he added.
John Suffolk, global cyber security officer for Huawei called Hayden’s comments tired, defamatory and unsubstantiated. “It’s time to put up or shut up,” said Suffolk. He added: “This is not blind prejudice on my part. This was my considered view based on a four-decade career as an intelligence officer. My conclusion was that, No, it is simply not acceptable for Huawei to be creating the backbone of the domestic telecommunications network in the United States, period.”
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