NZ govt plays down fears over Huawei

WELLINGTON -- New Zealand government said Tuesday the opposition parties were painting a very misleading view of the situation with Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei.

Huawei, which has an office in Auckland, has won contracts to upgrade New Zealand's broadband network.

A draft report of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said Huawei and ZTE should be barred from any US mergers and acquisitions, as the Chinese companies pose a security threat to the United States and to its systems.

Huawei has denied the allegations, saying the report is utterly lacking in substance.

The Greens and Labor parties in New Zealand were urging the government to investigate Huawei, following the release of the US congressional committee report.

New Zealand Minister of Economic Development Steven Joyce, who also serves as acting Communications and IT Minister, said the United States was long concerned about Huawei, but New Zealand's security agencies have already screened it.

The fact is, Huawei is involved in telecommunications in more than 100 countries, and hundreds of millions of people use their technology, he said.

"Huawei has had a long involvement with companies like Vodafone worldwide and 2Degrees as well in this country, so it's not like they're new to the telecommunications business," Radio New Zealand quoted him as saying.

"Different countries take a different view on the risks to their security at different times. I suppose that's an example of where our sovereignty is very different to the US'," he added.

Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Paul Brislen dismissed the American report's concerns

"I smell the awful hand of economic and political intrigue rather than any real security threat," he told Radio New Zealand.