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U.S. issues Huawei phone warning
Mon, 8th Oct 2012
FYI, this story is more than a year old

American companies have been advised against doing business with China's Huawei, as U.S. officials claim such dealings could encourage government spying.

Head of the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers issued a statement discouraging companies from any vendor deals, with the panel expected to release a year-long enquiry into alleged security risks from Huawei and ZTE Corp, also a Chinese company.

Despite a lack of evidence at this stage, Roger's concerns were raised about the world's second leading maker of telecommunications products in a program broadcasted on Sunday around the U.S.

"If I were an American company today ... and you are looking at Huawei, I would find another vendor if you care about your intellectual property; if you care about your consumers' privacy and you care about the national security of the United States of America," Rogers said.

The committee claims allowing Huawei to build and maintain large sections of the country's telecommunications infrastructure could lead the Chinese government to spy on U.S. activity.

But Huawei refuted the accusations, releasing a statement saying it was "globally trusted and respected".

"The security and integrity of our products are world proven," says William Plummer, Huawei spokesperson.

"Those are the facts today.

"Those will be the facts next week, political agendas aside."

Should U.S. officials be allowed to make such bold claims without any evidence? Tell us your thoughts below