Huawei: Australia law could exclude China firms

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - An official of Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies said on Friday he is concerned that new Australian laws to protect communication networks from cyber-attacks could exclude companies from tendering for work simply because they're Chinese.

Huawei's Australian subsidiary was last year barred on security grounds from working on a national broadband network that is now under construction.

Its chairman John Lord told a parliamentary committee hearing on the proposed law that Australia could lose its competitive edge if it excluded companies from sensitive projects based on their nationality alone.

The hearing comes in the same week that the United States (US) House Intelligence Committee quizzed Huawei and Zhongxin Telecommunication Equipment Corporation (ZTE) executives as part of a yearlong probe into whether the Chinese companies pose a threat to US national security.