BERLIN: Huawei, the Chinese technology and telecoms group hit by US sanctions, said on Monday it was confident of meeting the security requirements that Germany is setting for its fifth-generation mobile networks.

The upbeat comment, by Huawei’s Germany chief technology officer Werner Haas, comes as the country’s telecoms and cyber watchdogs hone security criteria that vendors such as Huawei will have to fulfil to gain certification.

Germany has just completed a 6.5 billion euro ($7.4 billion) auction of 5G spectrum that can, for example, run “smart” factories, setting the stage for Huawei and rivals Ericsson and Nokia to vie for billions in deals.

“We expect there to be good and pragmatic (security) solutions — and we have no doubt that we will fulfil them,” Haas told reporters in Berlin.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted Huawei as part of his broader drive to rebalance trade with China, last month imposing export controls on the Shenzhen-based global networks market leader.

That measure has forced key Western suppliers, such as UK-based chip designer ARM, to curb deliveries and led Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, to warn that revenue could take a $30 billion hit this year as a result.

In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, the government and regulators have, after lengthy debate, spurned US calls to banish Huawei on national security grounds.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019