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Chinese Networking Vendor Huawei's Murky Ownership

Posted by kdawson on from the worthy-of-neal-stephenson dept.

A month ago we mentioned India's suspicions that telecomm equipment from China might contain backdoors. There hasn't been any smoking gun on such speculation. Now reader littlekorea sends in some background on the ties one important Chinese telecomm vender might or might not have to the government there. "Conspiracy theories abound as to whether networking kit vendor Huawei is owned or controlled by the Chinese government and/or the military-industrial complex. But who really owns Huawei? Kiwi journalist Juha Saarinen headed to Shanghai to find out."

9 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. This is easy by lalena · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just compare the code byte for byte with Cisco's. Any differences are the Chinese backdoor.

    1. Re:This is easy by sznupi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There was similar "consensus" about Japanese or perhaps even Koreans not a long time ago...

      Seriously, don't you see a problem with reaching it in the group of colleagues? (or that pretty much anybody doing it has some interest in coming to such conclusion)

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. Coop? by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, after reading the fine article, it seems to me that the company is, officially at least, a coop. Only employees are allowed to own shares, which are primarily used as a method of profit sharing and performance rewards. It's actually not a bad model if you don't need the capital you can get by selling stock. There's a handful of companies in the US that do things much the same one, Ocean-spray being the first example that comes to mind.

    I don't see anything in the article about if/when/how the Chinese government influences the company beyond an offhand remark about the CEO's past work at the beginning and an otherwise unsupported statement at the end. How exactly would the company being publicly traded ally fears that the Chinese government is exerting control? It isn't as if the stockholders would have to know about the situation, nor would the fallout be any more severe if they were found out (either way the company would be going bankrupt very rapidly).

  4. Nothing to see here by fermion · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The CEO, like many CEOs in the US and around the world, have suspicious ties to the military and government. Typically this is why they make so muh money, they know the people who control the big contracts.

    There is a structure that makes it appear that the workers own the company. Having worked for a US company controlled by Asian interests, I found the structure rather familiar. It is done to reward workers based on results, and retain good employees.

    Other than that, there is no overwhelming evidence of government ties. Just a company with a management structure meant to maximize the appearance of employee control. The fact that the façade may not match reality does not mean the reality is a conspiracy.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  5. Re:Why make a back door when the front is wide ope by Miros · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What is the difference between a back door, and a section of code which is deliberately a little bit sloppy to allow for a vulnerability that would just be very difficult for someone to discover? You are assuming that any back-door which does exist would be well labeled as such and therefore serve the function of a smoking gun if discovered. In reality it would probably be far easier to just not fix certain bugs deliberately and provide detailed documentation of them to the right people.

  6. It's easy logic by copponex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Americans have backdoors, it's to protect American interests and therefore "good". When the Chinese have backdoors, it's to protect Chinese interests and therefore "bad".

    You can apply this same logic to foreign policy. Both value systems are based on power instead of principle.

  7. Re:By using mobile broadband... by Nikkos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are supporting communism! Thats right, the CEO of Huawei is a fully paid up member of the Chinese Communist Party.

    I'm pretty sure every rich and powerful person in China is a paid up member of the Communist Party. I doubt they'd be rich and powerful otherwise.

  8. are you surprised? by oddTodd123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    owned or controlled by the Chinese government

    Isn't everything in China owned or controlled by the government?