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Hannah Boland 09 July 2020 6:19pm BST After twenty minutes of grilling from the Science and Technology Committee today, Huawei's bespectacled UK vice president seemed almost relieved at
the question from committee chairman Greg Clark. Yes, staff at the Chinese telecom giant _were_ free to express their own views, Huawei's Jeremy Thompson answered confidently.
"Very much so." But that wasn't the end of it. Unsurprisingly, Clark wasn't merely interested in Huawei's HR policies. "So what's your view on the new
security law in Hong Kong?" the MP asked without missing a beat, his brow in a state of permanent furrow. "Um..." the camera shot back to the Huawei VP, visibly reddening,
squirming in his seat. He let out a wheeze of terrified laughter. "I'm a telecoms executive. I've worked in telecoms all my life. My role is to enable our customers to provide
communications faster and cheaper. I don't have a view." "You don't have a view or you don't think it would be consistent with your role at Huawei?," Clark
barked back. "I don't think it would be consistent with my role at Huawei in this forum," the executive said - showing the limits of how "very much so" staff from
the Chinese firm can air their views publicly. “You’ve invited me here chairman as a representative of Huawei. I represent Huawei. Huawei does not get involved in judging the rules of
different countries.” Clark turned his attention to Victor Zhang, a vice president and chief representative at Huawei UK. “As Jeremy said, as a company – we are not in the position to
comment on that political agenda," Zhang stated firmly. "What we want to do is work with our customer for making sure the UK will have the best digital network." Huawei in UK
In truth, what was clear was that Huawei was attempting to stay out of the headlines, its executives methodically replying with comments unfailingly aligned with the firm's corporate
position. A throwaway comment on issues in Hong Kong would hardly be welcome. It even steered clear of doom-mongering over what its removal from UK networks could mean. The same could not
be said for telecom operators. "An ultra aggressive imposition of a change in policy could hamper our economic recover in the UK," Vodafone UK head of networks Andrea Dona warned.
It would cost “single figure billions” of pounds to remove Huawei's equipment from networks. BT's Howard Watson went one further. Having to rip out Huawei "would literally
mean blackouts for customers on 4G and 2G networks as well as 5G throughout the country," he said. Removing the kit within three years would be "logistically impossible”.
Huawei's executives may have avoided such rhetoric for now. It may be reluctant to get involved in political issues in Hong Kong. But its silence could provide more reason for the US to
step up its campaign against the company - even if that spells mobile phone blackouts and eye-watering costs.