Universally Challenged: Oxford University turns on under-fire Chinese tech giant Huawei
Oxford University said last night it was suspending donations from Huawei following widespread concern over the Chinese tech firm’s practices.
The university said it had decided on 8 January that it will “not pursue” new funding opportunities with the firm “at present".
“Huawei has been notified of the decision, which the university will keep under review. The decision applies both to the funding of research contracts and of philanthropic donations,” it said in a statement.
“The decision has been taken in the light of public concerns raised in recent months surrounding UK partnerships with Huawei.”
Huawei, one of the world’s largest tech firms, has received a battering internationally in recent weeks over claims it has carried out intelligence activities on behalf of China.
In early December, its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the US.
Yesterday, Germany authorities said they were looking at ways of excluding Huawei from the country’s 5G rollout process, while the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was investigating the firm for “stealing trade secrets” from business partners.
Last week, one of Huawei’s employees was arrested in Poland and accused of spying.
On Tuesday, the firm’s founder Ren Zhengfei – father of Meng – said the company was not a spying risk.
The tensions come against the backdrop of aggravated relations between the US and China, which have suspended a trade war that raged through much of last year.
The decision by Oxford to suspend donations was first reported by the South China Morning Post.
It quoted from an email, sent to students in Oxford’s computer lab, which said the university’s donations committee had decided to suspend donations, a decision which the email said would be reviewed in three to six months.
The email encouraged students not to share information with Huawei.
Oxford’s move comes after the Foreign Affairs Select Committee called for British universities to exercise “extreme caution” in their interactions with the firm.
A Huawei spokesperson said: “We were not informed of this decision and await the University’s full explanation. As a private, employee-owned technology company, with a strong track record in R&D we believe partnership decisions should, like research, be evidence based. We have operated in the UK since 2001, employ 1,500 people here and have long standing collaborations with 20 other UK universities, working with them to research the technologies of the future.”
Huawei has donated to or has research relations with several other British universities, including Cambridge, Manchester and Surrey. All three declined to comment.