Director of Huawei Polska and former ABW officer arrested. Suspected of spying for China

Last year was not good for Huaweia in terms of image. And it looks like the current one will be even worse. The company's connections with the Chinese government are giving rise to growing concerns. If we believe the suspicions of our home ABW - quite justified.

Huawei is not only a producer of great phones and computers. The mobile market is a sales leader, also in Poland. Even in our team of bloggers, a large part of our devices are the equipment of this company.

Huawei, however, is also - and who knows, or not primarily - one of the leaders in the telecommunications market on the side of its infrastructure. It is quite possible that you are reading this text on your phone that has received an Internet radio signal from the transmitter Huaweia, who purchased your mobile operator. This company is power. As Spider's Web has established, the recently launched 5G network from T-Mobile also uses the Huaweia infrastructure.

Huawei is in the hands of the Chinese authorities.

The problem is that Huawei is a semi-private company over which the government of the People's Republic of China has partial control. There is therefore a reasonable suspicion that telecommunications devices of this company can be used for espionage purposes. Why is the state nature of Huaweia so important here?

Companies with private owners are driven by their own interest and profit. Alcatel-Lucent, Ericcson and Nokia want to sell as many transmitters to operators as possible. Samsung and Apple want to sell us as many phones as possible. Huawei is motivated in a similar way to act, but its owners may have an appetite for more.

Huawei as a company has no interest in stealing data on, let's say, new steel processing technology in a steel mill. But China's intelligence, looking for a way to increase the efficiency of the domestic industry, will gladly take this information.

The United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Norway rebel. And the first detentions were made in Poland.

In the United States , the ban on purchasing Huawei equipment by state entities is already in force , and cellular networks do not offer the company's phones in their subscription plans. The ban on the use of Huawei equipment by state entities and mobile network operators also applies in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The Czech Republic calls the company a threat to national security , and the offices in Norway are wondering if the construction of the 5G network in the country by Huaweia is certainly such a good idea.

As the editorial board of TVP Info managed to determine, the Polish Internal Security Agency detained Weijing W. and Piotr D., suspected of spying for Chinese intelligence. The first of the men is one of the directors of the Polish branch of Huawei. The second was a former ABW officer. Searches were also made at Huawei Polska and Orange Polska offices, where the second suspect worked.

The detainees were charged with art. 130 para. 1 regarding espionage against the Republic of Poland. The suspect threatens up to 10 years in prison, pleads not guilty and refuses to testify. Journalists of TVP Info have also determined that the PRC embassy demands contact with Weiging W. W. Podejrzanego, however, does not protect diplomatic immunity.

It is not clear what information was allegedly stolen and to whom.

At present, the ABW has not issued any official press release. It should also be remembered that for the time being suspects have been prosecuted, but according to the letter of the law, only the court will decide about their possible guilt. And also about whether the gentlemen acted on their own or within the structures of Huaweia.

The consequences of these events are very difficult to predict. However, it should be expected that the national authorities will at least consider a revision of the plans for the development of the national telecommunications infrastructure. And this can be very severe for Huaweia.

Director of Huawei Polska and former ABW officer arrested. Suspected of spying for China