Huawei has come out fighting against what it sees as “unsubstantiated” claims made by the US government, which has again sought to block the Chinese vendor from bidding for a key equipment contract in the country.
 
“Stop the manufactured fear. If you have something to say, substantiate it,” said William Plummer, Huawei’s vice-president of external affairs, reports the Financial Times.

His comments follow news last week that the government had moved to block Huawei’s involvement in a tender for the construction of a 700MHz LTE-based emergency services network across the country, citing safety concerns.

But Huawei has asked the government to come clean on the precise nature of its allegations. “We have seen multiple instances where we are being asked for transparency. Well, the shoe is on the other foot. We would like to see some accountability and transparency associated with this decision. Where is the due process?” said Plummer.

The report notes that Plummer's comments represent the “most assertive response the company has made since the US began systematically blocking the company from acquiring US assets in 2008.”

The Chinese firm has had several acquisitions in the country blocked, including deals to buy 2Wire and 3Leaf – it was also reported to have looked at Motorola’s infrastructure business, which was subsequently sold to western rival Nokia Siemens Networks. Huawei was also blocked from participating in Sprint’s Network Vision project due to concerns over security.

While the government has only ever cited unspecified “security concerns,” it is thought that the issue relates to Huawei’s alleged links to the Chinese military.
 
A recent unclassified US intelligence report obtained by the Financial Times quotes national Chinese media stating that Huawei’s Sun Yafang, its chairwoman, once worked for the ministry of state security and that she used her “connections” at the ministry to help Huawei through financial difficulties at “critical moments”.

Huawei’s Plummer dismissed the intelligence report as “just innuendo and suggestion.” He added: “It is not intelligence. At the very best, it is a Reader’s Digest of media reports.”