China’s technology giant, Huawei opened its first cybersecurity lab in Brussels in a bid to win over the European Union. The move can be seen as a tactical one, as Huawei has been attempting to fight back US allegations that it poses a threat to national security.
The Huawei European Cybersecurity Centre was inaugurated on Tuesday and will allow its customers to reevaluate the source code which runs on its network gear.
Huawei Technologies Co. is the world’s largest manufacturer of telecom infrastructure for the new 5G high-speed networks.
The inauguration happens amid a US-China standoff. The USA fears that Huawei’s equipment could facilitate surveillance by China’s communist party.
The new centre gives the company a location for reassuring its cybersecurity credentials towards EU policymakers.
Last year, Huawei opened a similar centre in Bonn, Germany, while it has been funding a British, by government-led testing site, the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre since 2010.
Deputy Chairman at Huawei Ken Hu welcomed all regulators, standards organisations and customers to utilize the Brussels Center.
Europe is Huawei’s biggest market outside China, and the company seeks to play a crucial role in building the continent’s 5G networks. It competes against Ericsson and Nokia.
The successor of 4G mobile networks allows speedier downloads and reduced signal lags – developments that will be used in smart factories, self-driving cars and remote surgery.
Huawei’s rotating chairman said in a keynote speech last week that “we [Huawei} don’t do bad things” and that the company would “never plant backdoors” in its gear.
Washington officials pressured governments and companies to consider the threat posed by Huawei without giving exact evidence for such risk.
Washington’s fight against Huawei includes criminal charges against Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer.
Despite the USA’s campaign, European governments and mobile companies have been seemingly resistant against a full ban on Huawei equipment.
Britain’s telecommunication networks noted “shortcomings” that “exposed new risks in the U.K. telecommunication networks”, but none were considered medium or high priority.
