A former Polish agent and a former Huawei employee have been charged with espionage in a case that began Tuesday in a Warsaw court. Polish prosecutors accused Wang Weijing, 39, of spying for more than seven years under the guise of a Huawei executive. Court documents show that Wang sought to enhance Huawei’s ability to influence the Polish government and “enable it to… manage the country’s… technology infrastructure.” Another Polish defendant, Piotr D., who was released on bail, worked for years at a high level of the government and is accused of leaking government secrets.
Both men denied any wrongdoing. The court held a closed-door hearing on Tuesday at the request of the prosecution. Prosecutor Anna Karlinska told the court it was necessary to protect Poland’s counterintelligence operations.
Polish authorities arrested the men in January 2019 on “suspicion of spying for China,” an incident that has led to international discussion about the potential security risks of using Huawei equipment in communications networks.
Huawei has repeatedly denied that its equipment can be used by Beijing authorities for espionage, but the U.S. has been pressuring countries to ban Huawei facilities. In Europe, only the United Kingdom and Sweden have officially banned Huawei facilities so far.
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