Judgment on Huawei should be based on facts, ministry says

Policymaking and judgment in any country should be "based on facts instead of groundless lies", Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during a regular news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

Lu made the remark after Vodafone CEO Nick Read warned on Monday that excluding Huawei from Europe's 5G networks could be "hugely disruptive" to national infrastructure and consumers.

"People are saying things at the moment that are not grounded," Read was quoted by Reuters as saying at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

"I'm not saying that is the case for the US, because I have not met them directly myself, so I have not seen what evidence they have, but they clearly need to present that evidence to the right bodies throughout Europe," Read said.

Vodafone is the world's second-largest mobile operator, with around 700 million subscribers globally.

"I think the comments made by the head of Vodafone are reasonable," Lu said.

"The key is that some people, just as Read said, cannot provide evidence for their statement," Lu said. He added that they also, out of self-interest, are using their national power to destroy the normal and mutually beneficial cooperation between the companies of other countries.

But they should be aware that companies and consumers in other countries will also make choices based on their own vital interests, Lu said.

Also on Monday, the Financial Times said in an opinion piece that there are thousands of cyber attacks on networks, but Huawei has never been found to have inserted a software "back door" to facilitate one.

Lu said, "5G mobile communication technology is the result of all countries' communication and cooperation amid globalization, and it is a high-tech, innovative product shared by the international community."

He also said that China considers it in line with the fundamental interests of all parties to safeguard multilateral cooperation with win-win results and maintain an open and inclusive market environment.

"We believe that all parties will independently make the right choice that is in line with their own interests and the trend of the times," Lu added.