Australia will block a deal for Huawei Ocean, according to which Huawei Ocean will deploy a submarine cable of more than 4,000 kilometers from Sydney to the Solomon Islands. Australia is now ready to finance the $ 100 million ($ 78 million) project.
"This deal from Huawei has caught the attention of Australian intelligence agencies," said Jonathan Pryke, an analyst at the think-tank Lowy Institute. "The new national security law has clearly prompted Australia to move forward '
Australia has privately said it will not award cable access for the Huawei project, but the country's proposal to finance the cable shows that the fight between Australia and China over the influence and control of key infrastructure in the South Pacific has intensified, a cable that will transform Solomon Islands, and will include an extension linking Papua New Guinea.
A Solomon Islands spokesman told the Financial Times that the Australian assessment team recently visited the country and that the country is "strongly interested" in the proposal to use development assistance to finance the fiber optic cable.
He said: 'Naturally, if the Solomon Islands government accepts Australia's proposal, there is no doubt that Huawei's maritime exchange will have to be canceled.'
Submarine cables are crucial to global communications, carrying 97% of Internet traffic, including e-mail and $ 10 trillion worth of funds per day, but Western defense experts worry that Huawei and others that they claim to be affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party The linked China science and technology groups may be instructed by the Chinese government to use their influence in the submarine cable industry to exert pressure or spy on other countries.
Analysts cited examples from Vietnam, where Chinese investors froze financing for Vietnam's infrastructure projects after Vietnam criticized China for building islands in the South China Sea in 2014. Last year, the display screens at Vietnam's two largest airports were hacked, with screens On a report that criticized Vietnam's position on the issue, a report by researchers at the University of Washington said the attack demonstrated that countries with digital infrastructure built in China are vulnerable to cyber attacks from China .
Robert 'Jake' Bebber, information war officer for the US Cyber Command, said: 'The ownership of the submarine cable system and its control over its installation and maintenance are for the People's Republic of China On a huge strategic opportunity.
He warned that control over the undersea fiber optic cable could allow China to reach almost all communications around the world, including U.S. military communications, which Berbat said may allow China to arbitrarily choose when and where to cut off communications.
In the past, Huawei has always denied that it has engaged in espionage or association with the Chinese Communist Party, and the company's unnamed chairman, Ren Zhengfei, served in the Information Technology Research Unit of the PLA until 1982. At the 2015 Davos Forum He told the audience that the Chinese government never asked Huawei to engage in espionage activities.
Huawei Ocean is a joint venture between Huawei and UK's Global Marine Systems, which has over 150 years of experience in the installation and maintenance of communications systems.
Global Maritime Systems Corp. defended its cooperation with Huawei, saying Huawei is 'trusted by carriers, businesses and consumers in more than 170 countries.'
In competition with companies traditionally dominated by the industry - Alcatel-Lucent in France and all of Switzerland's TE Connectivity - Huawei Ocean was established in 2008 on almost every continent Won the contract, but data from consulting firm Ovum showed that Huawei Marine has been particularly successful in Asia, the Pacific and Africa, which have contributed to the prosperity of the submarine cable market. In 2016, the submarine cable market more than doubled in size from 2014 400 million U.S. dollars to 1 billion U.S. dollars.
Huawei's success triggered allegations from its competitors that it benefited from subsidies in Beijing and was able to secure a large number of contracts at below-cost prices. Another challenge the group is facing is what it is willing to win Various incentives provided by the customer.
A Solomon Islands Parliamentary Account Committee report called on the police to investigate a 40 million Solomon Islands dollar (about $ 5 million) in political contributions - allegedly by Huawei to the then Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (Manasseh Sogavare ) Provided by the party where Huawei strongly denied the allegation.
A Huawei spokesman said the allegations were without any factual basis and the company never gave, hinted or promised any political contributions on the project.
He added: 'Network security remains Huawei's top priority and we have implemented strict security measures in all our business processes. We remain open and are willing to work together with governments and various industries to address global cyber security challenges.'
Huawei has been barred from bidding for contracts with certain countries in the United States and Australia, after security agencies in the two countries expressed their concerns after a House of Representatives conducted a survey in 2012 that concluded: 'Can not believe that China's Huawei And ZTE are not affected by foreign governments and therefore (they) pose a security threat to the United States and our system. "
Other Western countries, including the United Kingdom and New Zealand, have been warmly welcoming Huawei's investment and Huawei has worked closely with BT to supply the latter's UK national broadband network with access products.
Huawei committed $ 2 billion to the UK economy in 2012. To ease the concerns of security experts and lawmakers, Huawei set up the Cyber Security Evaluation Center in Oxfordshire to evaluate the devices to ensure that the devices Will not pose a security risk to the UK, which is chaired by an independent committee with the head of cybersecurity at the GCHQ government communications headquarters.
A Huawei spokesman told the Financial Times: 'We can confirm that we have never been asked to provide access to our technology or provide any government or agency with any data or information about any citizen or organization.'
However, in the United States and Australia, which have become increasingly worried about China's growing influence in the Indian-Pacific region, Huawei's success has not won the praise of the security sector.
"There is a link between China's telecom companies and the Chinese government," said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, "which creates the risk of infiltration, intellectual theft, and possibly Give Beijing its ability to close Australia's domestic network in the event of a crisis. "