The following are excerpts from a Reuters news report by Jack Stubbs and Foo Yun Chee, dated February 21, 2019, under the headline "Britain managing Huawei risks, has no evidence of spying: official". (Begin excerpts) LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain is able to manage the security risks of using Huawei telecoms equipment and has not seen any evidence of malicious activity by the company, a senior official said on Wednesday, pushing back against U.S. allegations of Chinese state spying. Ciaran Martin, head of Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said Britain had yet to decide on its security policy for national 5G networks, but that Huawei equipment was subject to detailed oversight and strict government controls over where it was used. “Our regime is arguably the toughest and most rigorous oversight regime in the world for Huawei,” Martin, whose NCSC is part of Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency, said at a cybersecurity conference in Brussels. Asked later whether Washington had presented Britain with any evidence to support its allegations, he told reporters: “I would be obliged to report if there was evidence of malevolence ... by Huawei. And we’re yet to have to do that. So I hope that covers it.”.... Martin said it was for the U.S. government to comment on what information it had about the company but added: “From our point of view ... if you look at the detailed paper we’re publishing, we set out the way we manage the risks.”.... Britain is a key battleground for Huawei in its campaign to resist U.S. pressure in Europe. Any decision by London to allow the Chinese company to participate in building next-generation 5G networks would be watched closely by other nations because of Britain’s membership of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group along with the United States..... Commenting on the report, Martin said: “As we said then, and repeat today, these problems are about standards of cyber security; they are not indicators of hostile activity by China.”... (End excerpts) Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-no-evidence-of-spying-official-idUSKCN1Q91PM
