Huawei says 'country of origin' should not be criteria in assessing cybersecurity

A top executive at China-headquartered technology giant Huawei has invoked the example of market rival Nokia's Chinese joint venture to say that the assessment of cybersecurity should not be based upon the location of mobile equipment vendors' headquarters.

Catherine Chen, Huawei's board member and senior vice president, told a media roundtable in Brussels on Thursday afternoon that its "equipment has components manufacturing and assembly done in a lot of countries around the world, like European countries, the United States, Japan and other Asian countries. So, do you think the product is a Chinese one or a global one?"

Chen went on to take Nokia, one of its two main rivals headquartered in northern Europe, as an example.

"Nokia has established a joint venture in China and to be more precise, the Chinese state has shares in this joint venture. They provide their technology and solutions not only to the Chinese market -- they also provide that to around 50 overseas markets. So, would you call that a European company or a Chinese company?" Chen said.

She concluded that "what I'm trying to convey is that the assessment of cybersecurity should not be based upon the nationality of a vendor or a company."