A spokesman for Poland’s secret services said it has evidence that both
men engaged in espionage against Poland January 13, 2019
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Via Zerohedge…
In the latest sign that the US’s extensive lobbying campaign to
convince its Western allies that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is not to be
trusted is beginning to bear fruit, Huawei on Saturday revealed that it
had fired an executive based in Poland after he and a Polish
national were arrested by Polish intelligence and charged with
espionage on behalf of Beijing.
Already, members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance – which, in
addition to the US, includes Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK – have
tightened restrictions on use of Huawei equipment by government agencies, and
have discouraged domestic telecoms companies from utilizing Huawei’s
market-leading 5G technology. Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and other Western
countries are taking similar steps. President Trump is weighing an outright ban on purchases of
Huawei products by US companies as US telecoms firms
struggle to catch up in the race to become the world leader in 5G technology.
And though Huawei operates in more than 170 countries globally
(including Syria and Iran), it appears that the fear of being excluded from Western markets has
prompted a rare break with Beijing, which said on Friday that the arrest of
Wang Weijing was “gravely concerning” – words seemingly intended to menace any Polish businessmen or
diplomats living or working in the PRC (just look at Beijing’s treatment of
Canadian nationals following the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou).
In a statement quoted by Bloomberg announcing the firing, Huawei
denounced Wang as having brought “disrepute” on his now-former employer.
Huawei Technologies Co. fired Wang Weijing, an employee arrested
in Poland this week on suspicion of spying for the Chinese government, saying
he disgraced the company.
“His alleged actions have no relation to the company,” Huawei said Saturday in an emailed statement. “The
incident in question has brought Huawei into disrepute.”
Wang has been described as being in charge of sales to public sector
clients. The Polish national who was arrested along with Wang – his name hasn’t
been revealed – was reportedly a former employee of Poland’s security services.
A spokesman for Poland’s secret services said it has evidence that both
men engaged in espionage against Poland. If convicted, they could face up to 10
years in prison. Still, Huawei vociferously objected to
Meng’s arrest in Vancouver on charges she lied to banks to mask violations of
US and EU sanctions against Iran, and has continued to oppose her extradition
to the US, which Beijing also opposes.
Poland has said that Wang’s suspected activities had nothing to do with
his work at Huawei. Still, Huawei’s decision to abandon an executive is
certainly interesting.
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