Huawei ready to face questions from Dutch MPs

THE HAGUE -- Chinese telecom company Huawei is ready to face questioning by Dutch members of parliament on its cooperation with Dutch telecom company KPN, the COO of Huawei Technologies Netherlands Liu Haosheng told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"We understand the concerns of the Dutch government," Liu said. "Huawei is committed to cooperating transparently with any and all government agencies who wish to carry out an open and impartial dialogue about our company and the products and services that have made us successful internationally," he added.

Dutch MPs have requested the cabinet to provide clarifications on plans by Dutch telecom company KPN to cooperate with Chinese telecom companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, the Dutch Financial Daily reported on Tuesday.

Both Chinese companies have been accused of alleged espionage in the United States this weekend and the US Congress advised against cooperation with Huawei and ZTE after a year-long congressional investigation.

Meanwhile, three Dutch political parties said that they want the caretaker government to start an investigation on the cooperation between KPN and the two Chinese companies.

"If the Americans issued such a warning, then the Dutch government should look at it," VVD parliamentarian Han ten Broeke told the Financial Daily. "KPN is not stupid but we must take this very seriously. It is quite legitimate for the government to ask KPN a number of critical questions about the alliances with Huawei and ZTE."

Huawei has its Benelux headquarters in Amsterdam, having started operations in the Netherlands since 2005 and has more than 550 employees, 70 percent of whom are local. In Europe, Huawei currently has more than 7,300 employees, and creates over 6,000 job opportunities.

At the same time, Huawei is one of the largest telecommunications equipment makers in the world and delivers equipment for Internet and telecom providers. The Chinese company also develops software and smart phones.

"We, like many companies in our industry, have benefited from free and fair trade and the process of globalization, and we will continue to push for open markets, cooperative innovation, and equal opportunity for all companies," Liu stressed.

KPN refused to give any comment to Xinhua, but said in a statement that it does business "with a large number of multinational suppliers like Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and ZTE."