On June 2nd, the Tribune carried a letter from the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy titled "Politically motivated economic suppression goes nowhere". The letter was written in response to a report in the Tribune’s May 30th issue raising questions about Chinese products and technologies. The full text of the letter is as follows:
In recent years, frequent allegations were made regarding the security of Chinese made information technology products and questions raised as to whether users could have their personal data fully protected.
All these allegations seem to come from one source and share one characteristic: No evidence has ever been produced to substantiate these claims. Nor do those who make those allegations feel obligated to produce any evidence.
China is a staunch defender of cyber security. The Chinese government never supports any activities by Chinese companies that are detrimental to the lawful security interests of other countries, nor is there any law or regulation in China that requires the installation of so-called “back doors” in Chinese companies.
Over the years, Chinese companies, which provide high-quality and inexpensive products and services well attuned to the needs of developed as well as developing countries, have maintained a solid track record on information network security. No Chinese company has ever been associated with network security incidents such as what Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks revealed, or with any cyber surveillance programs such as Prism.
Take Huawei as an example. In the past 30 years, Huawei has built more than 1,500 networks in more than 170 countries and regions, partnering with 228 Fortune Global 500 companies and serving more than three billion people around the world. No country has come up with any evidence of Huawei products having back doors.
It is abundantly clear that the sustained smear campaign targeting Chinese companies is politically motivated and aimed at peddling fear and undermining the competitive edge of Chinese companies. These efforts will never succeed. Chinese companies will continue to survive and thrive in the global marketplace.
People around the world deserve access to safe, reliable and affordable information technology. We hope countries will take an objective and impartial stand and come to their own independent judgments. We call on all countries including our Caribbean partners to work together to foster a free, open and safe cyberspace and uphold a fair, just, open and non-discriminatory business environment for the benefit of our peoples.