UK universities to stick with Huawei despite Oxford university’s decision to suspend funding
A number of UK universities are standing by their relationship with Huawei despite the University of Oxford's stance to suspend all funding and donations from the Chinese technology firm.
Oxford university announced the decision to no longer accept money from the company on Thursday, citing “public concerns raised in recent months surrounding UK partnerships with Huawei”.
The company has been enshrouded in controversy over the past two months, following the arrest of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of US authorities.
There has also been ongoing security concerns regarding Huawei's roll out of 5G mobile internet in a number of countries, with it revealed on Thursday that Germany are strongly considering ways to block the company from its next generation mobile network.
UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson also stated last month that he has “very deep concerns about Huawei providing the 5G network in Britain.”
Despite the concerns and stance taken by Oxford University, a number of the 17 universities in Britain that receive funding from Huawei, committed to their relationship with the tech firm for the time being.
The University of Surrey, which received a $7.5m donation to the 5G Innovation Centre, said the Chinese firm was a key partner and it would continue its research with the company “unless there are clear and compelling reasons no to.”
A spokesperson said: “Huawei are one of a number of key partners, industrial, academic and government, with whom we are working to develop 5G capabilities.
“We’re committed to continuing our research, pushing the frontiers of human knowledge. We will continue to work with all our research partners, including Huawei, unless there are clear and compelling reasons not to.”
In Scotland, the University of Edinburgh says it has an "ongoing partnership with Huawei" and has received a total of £5.1m from the firm to help with research into data management and information technology.
"As with any research partnership that we undertake, this has undergone a rigorous process of due diligence and is the result of long-term collaboration between experts at the University of Edinburgh and Huawei,” a spokesperson said.
Similarly, the University of Southampton, where Huawei has directly invested more than £850,000 into research over the past six years, said it planned to continue its work with Huawei.
The university is involved in projects with Huawei that include the development of innovative consumer 3D technologies, while the firm also send undergradudates to its headquarters in Shenzen as part of its "Seeds for the Future" programme.
“We are aware of Oxford’s decision,” said a University of Southampton spokesperson. “We plan to continue working with Huawei, but will keep this under review as we do regularly."
The University of York said it currently has "no plans to make any changes to either of our two research projects with Huawei,” while the Imperial College of London also said it would continue to work with the company but insisted reviews would take place at “appropriate times”.
Cardiff University admitted it was "monitoring the current situation" but would continue to work on the current agreed projects.
"Any new commercial research contracts with new or existing sponsors would be subject to the University’s established due diligence processes,” a spokesperson added.
Huawei has also provided funding for research at the University of Manchester's £90m National Graphene Institute, which explores how graphene can be used in consumer electronics and mobile communication devices.
A spokesperson for the university said: "We have a range of relationships with corporate business partners. These are not necessarily donations, but may be business development projects or research collaborations. We have no plans to change our relationship with Huawei but will monitor developments."
Other universities known to have ties with Huawei include the University of Cambridge, which received a $1m donation to the university's computer lab, but they did not respond to request for comment.
Huawei are also involved with Queen Mary University, Royal College of Art, King's College London, Barking and Dagenham College, Napier University, Henley Business School and the Birmingham City school of computing.