‘No evidence’ of Huawei spying’

Germany’s IT watchdog has expressed scepticism about calls for a boycott of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, saying it has seen no evidence the firm could use its equipment to spy for Beijing, news weekly Spiegel reported Friday.

“For such serious decisions like a ban, you need proof,” the head of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schoenbohm, told Spiegel, adding that his agency had no such evidence.

Huawei has faced increasing scrutiny over its alleged links to Chinese intelligence services, prompting countries like the United States, Australia and Japan to block it from building their next-generation, super-fast 5G internet networks.

The US has put pressure on Germany to follow suit, Spiegel wrote. Schoenbohm said BSI experts had examined Huawei products and components from around the world.