Czech President Calls Accusations Of Posing Risk To Security Against Huawei 'Trade War'

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Czech President Milos Zeman suggested that the situation around Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, which has been accused by the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NCISA) of representing a threat to the country's security, was merely a trade war between rival firms.

In December, Dusan Navratil, the director of NCISA, warned mobile networks against cooperating with Huawei and ZTE, citing their alleged affiliation with Chinese security services. In January, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the Czech government had instructed the authorities to analyze the risks related to the use of computer software produced by the two Chinese companies. Babis said that the checks would affect 160 leading government agencies, as well as private and state-run companies. However, according to Babis, NCISA's statement had been unexpected for the government and lacked evidence.

"The NCISA head has practically deceived the government.

Moreover, he made his statement without any preliminary consultations with the cabinet. I will try to settle the situation during my visit to China in April. I would also like to meet with the head of Huawei there. I believe that this is a regular battle between computer firms, while words about security are being used or abused in it as an element of this trade war," Zeman told the TVBarrandov broadcaster.

Speaking about the negative consequences of the NCISA announcement, Zeman noted that the Chinese authorities had canceled the session of an intergovernmental economic cooperation commission, scheduled for early this year, without outlining the new terms of the meeting.

The president noted that the move affected at 70 Czech firms.

Huawei has recently faced allegations that it had been linked to the Chinese government. Last year, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States have banned the Chinese telecommunications giant from participating in government contracts.