MALAYSIA will study Huawei’s 5G infrastructure in Malaysia before acting, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad, amid calls in the Western countries for the Chinese telecom giant’s equipment to be banned over fears of cyber espionage.

The prime minister said the company has not done anything wrong in Malaysia.

“What Germany wants to do 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 and find out whether there is a basis for the action that they took against this company,” he said to a question from the audience after delivering the Oxford Union talk that was broadcast live by Astro Awani from London early, today.

It is 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 to spy for the Chinese government.

IAustralia and New Zealand have already responded with a ban against Huawai telecoms equipment to the United States’ call for the international community not to work with the Chinese firm. 

The US has warned that the equipment may contain “back doors” that could be used for cyber espionage. – Bernama, January 19, 2019.