China Slams US Spying, Demands Explanation of Huawei Infiltration

Foreign Ministry: We've Lodged Many Complaints

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed filing “many complaints” with the US government over espionage actions against Chinese companies, and looks to be even busier today with the scandal surrounding the NSA infiltration of Huawei.

Over the weekend, it emerged that the NSA targeted networking firm Huawei, the second-largest network infrastructure company in the word, behind only US-based Cisco. With the NSA having coerced US-based companies into coopering with spying schemes, Huawei’s being based abroad was likely a major reason for targeting them, and making off with the source code for their products.

Chinese officials have demanded a full explanation of the moves against Huawei, which reportedly began as far back as 2007, and has also insisted that the NSA must stop spying on its companies.

This is just the latest in a long line of NSA spying scandals that have suggested the agency was used for industrial espionage against well-placed foreign companies as much as it was used to spy on civilians the world over. Both Germany and Brazil have also seen themselves as major targets of industrial spying by the NSA.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.