HUAWEI
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the appropriateness of operations in Britain of Huawei. [123666]
Mr Swire, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office: I welcome Huawei's presence in the UK and their plans to expand that presence further with a £1.3 billion investment and procurement plan. This investment will see an increase in Huawei's UK workforce to over 1,500. It is of course vital that the UK's communications infrastructure is robust and resilient against a whole range of threats, including potential cyber attacks. No system is completely invulnerable and the globalisation of the telecoms industry means we must pay close attention to the risks inherent in its supply chains. For that reason, we have set up a unique joint venture with Huawei in 2010 where government experts and Huawei staff collaborate to provide assurance that their products meet government security standards prior to being deployed on UK networks.