29 Nov 2018

Huawei ban not political - GCSB Minister

From Morning Report, 6:43 am on 29 November 2018

The Minister responsible for the GCSB is insisting the decision to ban the tech giant Hauwei from Spark's 5G rollout is because of the technology not because the company is Chinese. The electronic spy agency has rejected Spark's plan to use Huawei equipment in its new network citing significant national security risks. But National is worried the real risk will be to this country's relationship with its biggest trading partner. And speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed "serious concern," and said China-New Zealand business ties were mutually beneficial. He told a daily news briefing: "We hope the New Zealand government provides a fair competition environment for Chinese companies operating in New Zealand, and does more to benefit bilateral mutual trust and cooperation."