* Huawei says negotiating conditions for House Intelligence
hearing
* China's ZTE Corp has said it will join Sept. 13 hearing
Sept 6 (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
, the world's second-biggest telecommunications
equipment maker, said it was negotiating the conditions under
which it would agree to take part in a U.S. congressional
hearing into alleged security threats posed by Chinese
telecommunications companies.
The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee
announced earlier on Thursday that it would hold an open hearing
on Sept. 13 as part of its investigation into "the national
security threats posed by Chinese telecommunications companies
working in the United States."
Huawei has received the committee's invitation to testify
next week, "and will appear at the hearing if the appropriate
arrangements are agreed with the committee," William Plummer, a
company spokesman in Washington, said in a statement.
He said in a telephone interview that the arrangements were
still under negotiation with the committee but declined to
elaborate.
Plummer said Huawei looked forward to further contributing
to a better understanding by panel members of the "globalized
and interdependent" communications technology industry.
Huawei also called attention to the work it said it is doing
to promote "universal and industry-wide security assurance
solutions."
"The integrity of Huawei's operations and performance and
the quality and security of our products are world-proven,
across 140 markets," Plummer said.
The House Intelligence Committee's hearing is part of an
investigation of the two biggest Chinese telecommunications
companies doing business in the United States, Huawei and ZTE
Corp.
The committee is reviewing "the extent to which these
companies have ties to the Chinese government or otherwise
provide the Chinese government an opportunity for greater
foreign espionage, threaten our critical infrastructure, or
increase the opportunities for Chinese economic espionage," the
committee said in a statement on Thursday.
ZTE said on Aug. 29 that it would participate in the
hearing.
A spokeswoman for the House Intelligence Committee did not
immediately return a phone call seeking comment on any
negotiations with Huawei. The committee's website did not name
any witnesses for the upcoming hearing.
