A sales director at Huawei (SHE: 002502) known as Wang Weijing has been charged with espionage in Poland and officially arrested.
Huawei issued a statement saying Wang's employment was officially terminated and that he behaved of his own accord, having "no relation to the company." Huawei also said Mr. Wang "has brought Huawei into disrepute." Polish authorities believe that China is using Huawei as a front to spy on multiple countries.
This is the second time recently that Huawei is coming into the spotlight for the questionable actions of its employees. Its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada in December, pending extradition to the US for violating sanctions in Iran.
"Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries where it operates, and we require every employee to abide by the laws and regulations in the countries where they are based," said a statement issued by the company. Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei has denied that his company spies on other countries at the behest of the Chinese government.
According to tech market analyst firm Canalys: "Poland is a key European market for Huawei, which serves all four of the country's major network operators and is the second-largest vendor of smartphones, with more than a quarter of the market."
Wang was also tasked with being a cultural bridge between China and Poland, leading a training program in 2014 that prepared tour guides on how to deal with Chinese tourists. Wang also worked at the Chinese consulate in Gdansk, Poland, and was in public relations for a while. He joined Huawei in 2011.
The arrest is particularly notable because Poland is such a major market for Huawei, serving four of Poland's biggest phone operators while capturing more than a quarter of the market. It is the second-largest vendor of smartphones there.
Because Wang was such a well-known figure in the context of Huawei in Poland, the arrest requires some serious PR damage control on the part of the company. It also brings attention to the growing involvement of the Chinese government in extra-national matters through corporate channels.