Huawei says doesn't wish to escalate further with Czech cyber watchdog

BRUSSELS - A spokesperson for Huawei in the Czech Republic confirmed on Thursday that the company has sent a letter to the country's cyber regulator over the latter's warning over the products of the Chinese technology giant.

"We don't wish to escalate the situation further," said Magda Teresa Partyka, Huawei's spokesperson in the country.

Huawei is an employee-owned private company, which has evolved into the world's leading telecommunications equipment vendor and a market leader in Europe, helping mobile carriers build the information and communication infrastructure.

In December 2018, the Czech Republic's National Cyber and Information Security Agency, known as the NUKIB, sent a warning over Huawei's products, saying that Huawei represented a potential national security threat to the country's critical infrastructure.

Huawei has categorically rejected NUKIB's allegations.

On Feb 8, media outlets including The New York Times reported that Huawei had sent a letter to the head of NUKIB asking for the warning to be rescinded, "adding that if they did not receive a reply by Feb 14, they would take the matter to court."

While The New York Times report, which included no comment from Huawei, portrayed the letter as a "threat", Partyka, the spokesperson, described the letter as a way of communication.

"Yes, Huawei has sent a letter to NUKIB as we were trying to contact (them) to arrange a meeting to discuss the issue of the warning. Instead of a meeting, they prefer written communication, therefore we are communicating via letters," Partyka wrote in an email after being contacted by Xinhua, without elaborating on the content of the letter.

Asked whether Huawei has received a response from NUKIB, Partyka wrote "No, we haven't yet received NUKIB's reply to our letter. We expect to receive the reply."

"As we have expressed already, our goal is to have fair conditions to do business in the Czech Republic. We don't want our company to be discriminated against with no evidence. We are a reliable partner and we do not wish to escalate the situation further. We want to conduct our business here, deliver our products and services to our customers," she wrote.

The China-based company which also has a consumer business, producing smartphones and tablets, has maintained it does not pose a security threat, despite accusations by some western countries and politicians without any supporting evidence.