Chinese telecom groups Huawei and ZTE do pose a security threat a US Congress report has warned after an investigation into the two companies. It said the firms had failed to allay fears about their association with the Chinese government and military.

The companies are among the world’s biggest makers of telecom networking equipment.”China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes,…… Based on available classified and unclassified information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems,”  the committee said in its report. Both Huawei and ZTE have denied the allegations.

China’s Foreign Ministry stated: “Chinese telecoms companies have been developing their international business based on market economy principles. Their investment in the United States embodies the mutually beneficial nature of Sino-American economic and trade relations.”

Huawei was founded in1987, as the firm has grown to become one of the largest global players in the sector, fears about its ties with the Chinese military have frequently surfaced. Last year, its purchase of American computer company 3Leaf systems, was rejected by a US security panel.

Earlier this year, it along with ZTE, faced allegations that some of their equipment had been installed with codes to relay sensitive information back to China.

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