WASHINGTON/HONG KONG, (Reuters) – China’s ZTE Corp said it would take part in a projected U.S. congressional hearing next month linked to an investigation of alleged Chinese espionage threats to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure.
The House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has invited the chairman of ZTE, Hou Weigui, and deputy chairman of Huawei Technologies Co, Ken Hu, to testify at a hearing that would explore their companies’ relationships with the Chinese authorities, among other things.
“ZTE intends to participate in the upcoming congressional hearing,” Mitchell Peterson, a vice president of ZTE’s U.S. arm, said in a statement to Reuters yesterday.
Shenzhen-headquartered ZTE is in the world’s fifth-biggest telecommunications equipment maker. Huawei, also based in Shenzhen, is the second-biggest, after Sweden’s Ericsson. Huawei had no immediate comment on whether any of its executives would testify.
