The Chinese Embassy in Norway objected to a report issued by Norwegian intelligence agents which said China posed a threat to the Scandinavian country's security and was trying to steal it's secrets on Monday, according to The South China Morning Post.
Chinese Embassy officials said the report was "ridiculous" even though Oslo, like many other countries in Europe, is reconsidering the future of China's Huawei Technologies.
Even though the report said Russian security services posed the largest threat, China was also carrying out intelligence operations against Norwegian interests and businesses, according to Norwegian intelligence service PST.
In PST's annual threat assessment report, it said China was trying to penetrate computer networks.
“One has to be attentive about Huawei as an actor and about the close connections between a commercial actor like Huawei and the Chinese regime,” said the head of Norway’s domestic intelligence unit PST Benedicte Bjornland.
“An actor like Huawei could be subject to influence from its home country as long as China has an intelligence law that requires private individuals, entities, and companies to cooperate with China,” said Bjornland.
“China poses no threat to Norway’s security. It’s very ridiculous for the intelligence service of a country to make security assessment and attack China with pure hypothetical language,” the Chinese Embassy in Oslo said in a statement on its website in response to the PST report.
The Embassy also rejected comments made Bjoernland which called on people to be aware of Huawei's links to the Chinese government.
Beijing's response said China was not forcing any companies to install "mandatory back doors" in their software.
But a number of countries have alleged Huawei has close ties with the Chinese government which could lead to Beijing using Huawei's technology for spying.
Norway has been mulling whether or not to join other countries in excluding Huawei Technologies from building some of the country's new 5G telecommunications infrastructure.
Neighboring Denmark ordered two Huawei Technologies employees leave the country after their work permits and residence were not in order, according to Copenhagen police.
“On Thursday, the Copenhagen police carried out a routine check of the residence and work permits,” at Huawei’s offices, a Copenhagen police source said. “In two cases, the people did not have the proper paperwork.”
The pair were ordered to leave the country, but police said it was not linked to the espionage concerns.
Several countries, including the United States, have banned Huawei 5G telecoms equipment due to security concerns.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s about setting up a regulatory framework to protect what could be considered critical infrastructure,” Norwegian Justice Minister Tor Mikkel Wara said on Monday.
“What this regulatory framework would look like, and what it would cover, is what we’re working on right now,” he said.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Miriam Dalsgaard
