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Huawei Browne-noses UK after hiring ex-BP peer for its board

'This shows our commitment to openness and transparency', gushes rotating CEO Ken Hu

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has appointed ex-BP chief exec Lord Browne to head up its UK board of directors.

The company has repeatedly rejected concerns that Huawei has too much control over Blighty's critical infrastructure and communications systems, based on claims that its chairman (and erstwhile member of the People's Liberation Army) Ren Zhengfei was helping Chinese authorities to spy on the Western world.

"This is just the latest illustration of Huawei’s commitment to openness and transparency and to continuing to build relationships of trust in the UK and across the world," said the firm's deputy chairman Ken Hu, who is one of three rotating chiefs at Huawei.

The company has failed to expand its business in the US due to its alleged links with China's spooks. Yet here in the UK, Huawei has been a major supplier to one-time state monopoly BT for the past 10 years.

Lord Browne will be joined by two independent non-exec directors on the board: Dame Helen Alexander, chairman of UBM plc, and Sir Andrew Cahn, who served as chairman of Huawei UK’s Advisory Board from 2011 to 2014. ®

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