A government official in Poland said his country could limit the use of telecom networks from Huawei following the arrest of a Huawei employee there on spying allegations.
Huawei, the leading maker of telecom equipment, faces scrutiny in the West over its relationship with China’s government and U.S.-led allegations that its devices could be used by Beijing for espionage.
Several Western countries have restricted Huawei’s access to their markets. In addition to US, Australia and New Zealand have also blocked Huawei from supplying 5G networks amid concerns of its possible links with Beijing.
Germany, UK and Japan have also indicated that they will limit the purchase of 5G equipment from Huawei. India government officials said they do not have any proposal at present to ban the telecom gear maker from mobile infrastructure projects.
Poland arrested a Chinese Huawei employee and a former Polish security official on spying allegations on Friday, Reuters reported.
A Polish government official responsible for cyber security, Karol Okonski, told Reuters on Sunday that abrupt policy changes toward Huawei were not warranted after the arrests, but that the use of the company’s products by state entities could be reviewed.
Huawei on Saturday said it sacked the employee arrested in Poland, Wang Weijing, adding that his alleged actions have no relation to the company.
A LinkedIn profile for Wang showed he has worked for Huawei’s Polish division since 2011, and previously served as attache to the Chinese General Consul in Gdansk from 2006-2011.
Poland’s internal affairs minister, Joachim Brudzinski, has called for the European Union and NATO to work on a joint position over whether to exclude Huawei from their markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump in August signed a bill that barred the U.S. government from using Huawei equipment and is considering an executive order that would ban companies in US from sourcing telecom network from China-based suppliers.
