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Huawei Fires Employee Arrested in Poland on China Spy Claim

Huawei Fires Employee Arrested in Poland on Spying Allegations

(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. fired Wang Weijing, an employee arrested in Poland this week on suspicion of spying for the Chinese government, saying he disgraced the company.

“His alleged actions have no relation to the company,” Huawei said Saturday in an emailed statement, noting: “The incident in question has brought Huawei into disrepute.”

The employee was described as a Chinese citizen responsible for sales to public sector clients, Polish television news channel TVPInfo said on Friday. A former high-ranking official at Poland’s Internal Security Agency, who worked at mobile phone operator Orange Polska SA, also was detained. They will remain in custody for three months.

Huawei is facing increasing pressure across the European Union amid growing concerns that China could use the company’s equipment for spying, something executives have denied. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing European allies to block Huawei from telecom networks amid a wider dispute over trade with China.

Evidence shows that both men detained in Poland conducted espionage activities against the country, Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s secret services chief, said in a statement Friday. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in jail, Zaryn said.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steve Geimann at sgeimann@bloomberg.net;Matthew G. Miller at mmiller144@bloomberg.net

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Bloomberg