You're watching...
Huawei V.P. of External Affairs Bill Plummer responds to a Congressional report saying the company is a potential security threat.
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
You may not recognize the name but -- always the world's second largest telecommunications company and is facing scrutiny from the house of congress.
Over concerns about its ability to share sensitive information about Americans with a Chinese Government not a house committee.
Investigating -- -- says that the company has not been very cooperative in answering questions and sanctions against the company are now looming.
Bill Plummer is while ways vice president of them.
Internal affairs he is joining us now.
To respond to the authentication -- you for shorts driving her unbelievable allegations and in essence it comes out of a report.
It's it's not a sanctioned yet but this report out of congress and in essence the House Intelligence Committee saying.
Not only that you guys could be a vehicle for spying by the equipment that you might put in the high speed Internet access but also.
That there bribery and violations regarding all kinds of other issues -- Your response first to the big one and that is that you guys would put in equipment and put in some type of back door that would enable you and the Chinese Government.
To spy on the United States what do you say to that.
Well what kind.
Threshold observation it's absurd.
-- -- way is a 32 billion dollar multinational company.
In doing business in over a 150 markets.
Went over 500 telecommunications operator customers.
Including the national operators across.
Virtually every OECD country.
We would not put our commercial success in jeopardy.
Nor compromise the integrity of our customers' networks for any government.
Now it would be it would be ridiculous bill if.
If that's true up just wondered why in the company wasn't more forthcoming.
In its in its answering to questions by the committee at least according to committee -- give me a chance to answer that but.
According to the committee report and -- read it to -- neither company neither your company or ZT the other company under scrutiny was willing to provide.
Sufficient evidence to ameliorate the committee's concerns neither company was forthcoming with detailed information about its formal relationships or regular -- regulatory interaction -- Chinese authorities neither company provided specific details.
About the precise role of each company's Chinese Communist Party committee.
Is that accurate.
You know so last November.
When.
He's a committee launched its investigation.
They issued a press release.
In December of -- met with committee staff in Washington.
In February we hosted committee staff for a daylong visit and China at our headquarters.
In May we hosted committee members and staff in Hong Kong with our CEO.
In June we received a list of questions from the committee which we responded to in short order in early July.
And September.
When we made a witness available to testify before the committee and subsequently answered.
An additional list of questions.
We have been remarkably.
But realize why would they say that you have been uncooperative.
It is it is somewhat disturbing to a mansion all of the information that we have shared.
Over the last eleven months.
Piles of documents hundreds of emails.
And and the product.
Of what was a good faith.
Exchange.
From while wayside.
The committee's report is a book long version of the November 2011.
Press release.
So I'm no substance bill I'm thinking that if we -- to hear from a conference room filled with walk away executives talking off the record they would say.
And you tell me if I'm I'm wrong but this is our competitors like Cisco the big one that does a lot of government work out there trying to bring us down.
Do you have any evidence of that or what is really behind this.
Well I think there there are a number of different factors.
You know what way has grown explosively over the last ten years.
Again across a 150 different markets and in with 45 of the world's top fifty carriers -- customers.
Arm across Europe across Asia -- in Canada throughout Latin America and Africa.
And during that time as we've been growing it certainly made some of our competitors nervous.
And and during that time that we were growing we didn't do as good a job as we should have and protecting our brand.
So there is a lot of -- information.
But also -- information which is either competitor or politically inspired aren't we we want -- --
