KUALA LUMPUR: The government will conduct a study to decide whether Chinese telecoms giant Huawei should be disallowed from building its 5G infrastructure in Malaysia, amidst allegations of cyber espionage conducted by the company.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that so far, the company has not run afoul of Malaysian laws, despite claims of spying by western governments.
“What Germany wants to do (as regards Huawei is) for Germany to decide, and what Canada wants to do, is also for them to decide.
“But Malaysia is not going to just follow what other people are doing.
“We have to study (the matter first to) find out whether there is a basis for the action that (several countries have taken) against this company,” he said to a question from the audience after delivering the Oxford Union talk which was broadcast live by Astro Awani from London, early today.
It was recently reported that Germany is considering introducing stricter security standards to effectively block Huawei from its 5G rollouts.
The move comes amid growing concern among western governments that Huawei’s devices could be used for spying by Chinese authorities.
It was also reported that Australia and New Zealand have banned the telecoms giant outright following the United States’ call for the international community not to work with the Chinese firm.
The US has warned that Huawei’s devices and equipment may contain “back doors” that could be used for cyber espionage.