Army can avoid Huawei threat with investments in US carriers, secretary says
Huawei allows law enforcement exclusive 'back door' access to its mobile phone networks around the world
U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Wednesday that investments in American wireless carrier technology could help the country avoid security threats from Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The secretary's comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Huawei allows Chinese law enforcement exclusive "back door" access to its mobile phone networks around the world.
"There are investments that can be made in technologies for us so that we can use our American carriers to support us with our networks," McCarthy told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo during an appearance on "Mornings with Maria."
Chinese tech giant Huawei was placed on a blacklist by the U.S. (Associated Press)
"But on the larger scale of competition with China and Russia, in particular, U.S. presence worldwide helps strengthen these local governments. It creates greater confidence for American businesses to invest in new markets. In the Army, we have 140,000 people deployed in 140 countries, and that consistency of presence helps strengthen local governments and [their] relationships with the U.S. government," he added.
BARR WARNS AGAINST CHINESE 'DOMINANCE' IN WIRELESS NETWORKS
The U.K. recently gave Huawei permission to help build part of its 5G networks in urban areas across the country against warnings from the U.S. government regarding the potential security threat of teaming up with a tech giant subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party.
The Journal's report made these concerns more evident since Huawei's "back door" capabilities had been kept secret for more than a decade, according to the newspaper's findings.
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"Huawei does not disclose this covert access to its local customers, or the host nation national-security agencies," a senior U.S. official told the Journal.
Huawei rejected accusations that its technology poses a threat to foreign countries and said it would never put its customers' sensitive information at risk of exposure.
"U.S. allegations of Huawei using lawful interception are nothing but a smokescreen – they don't adhere to any form of accepted logic in the cybersecurity domain," the tech giant said in a Wednesday statement to FOX Business.
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"Huawei has never and will never covertly access telecom networks, nor do we have the capability to do so. The [Journal] is clearly aware that the US government can't provide any evidence to support their allegations, and yet it still chose to repeat the lies being spread by these US officials. This reflects The Wall Street Journal's bias against Huawei and undermines its credibility," the statement added.