Huawei Arrests in Poland Show How Trump Vs. China Tests Europe

As Poland added to the global scrutiny of Huawei with the arrest of a company employee and a local former security agent, the country’s authorities also exposed the division in Europe over policy toward the Chinese technology giant, according to Bloomberg.

Huawei is facing increasing pressure across the European Union amid growing concerns that Beijing could use the company’s equipment for spying, something executives have denied. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing European allies to block Huawei from telecom networks amid a wider dispute over trade with China.

While there’s little to suggest any political involvement, the Warsaw government is a staunch ally of the U.S. and the country is a prototype of Trump-style nationalism and protectionism. The dilemma is that Europe needs to develop its infrastructure somehow. Various countries, including the U.K., France, Germany, Norway, have publicly raised concerns about using Huawei equipment for next-generation mobile networks. But others, like Spain, Portugal and Hungary, have been more welcoming to Chinese involvement.

The Huawei employee detained in Poland is a Chinese citizen responsible for sales to public sector clients, television news channel TVPInfo said. The other detained person is a former high-ranking official at Poland’s Internal Security Agency who worked at mobile phone operator Orange Polska. They will remain in custody for three months.

Evidence shows that both men conducted espionage activities against Poland, Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s secret services chief, said in a statement. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in jail, Zaryn said. “For us, this specific investigation concerns two people,“ he said later. “A separate issue is that of threats in the telecommunications industry. These are two separate issues“

China is highly concerned over the issue, the press office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “We are asking the related country to deal with the case fairly based on laws“ and protect the legitimate rights of the people, it said. A Huawei representative said the company was looking into the matter and declined to comment further. The company said it abides by applicable laws wherever it operates and expects employees to do the same.