Opposition Hits Out At Government’s Anti China Stance

The opposition expressed its disagreement over the Federal Government’s decision to exclude Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from the National Broadband Network program (NBN). The opposition did not mince any word, saying the action was unprofessional and offensive.

Huawei Technologies is one of the world’s largest providers of telecommunications equipment. It provides services to major telecoms company in the different parts of the world. The decision of the Federal Government’s to exclude Huawei stemmed from security concerns on different cyber attacks that apparently originated from China. Prime Minister Julia Gillard explained that the $36-billion NBN program is a major and vital national infrastructure project and all aspects must be considered.

The office of Attorney General Nicola Roxon issued a statement saying the IT infrastructure would serve as Australia’s backbone and that it is the Federal Government’s duty to secure information and maintain its integrity.

Andrew Robb, opposition Finance spokesman, said that the decision to ban Huawei would have a negative impact on Australia’s relations with China. He added that he had a chance to tour Huawei’s facilities and was impressed by them.

Robb added that Huawei was instrumental in the growth of Britain’s telecommunications industry and the Federal Government must take this into account. Huawei was also part and parcel of at least eight NBN implementations around the world.

Huawei has released a statement saying it is open to inviting all MPs and the media people to visit its facilities. Jeremy Mitchell, spokesma of Huawei, said that the country has not gotten used to having relations with privately owned Chinese companies.

He added that despite being a Chinese company, 70 percent of Huawei’s operations are outside of China.

Tagged Andrew Robb, China, government, Huawei, NBN