Top Huawei executive arrested in Poland for espionage

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Huawei executive has been arrested in Poland after being discovered as a spy for the Chinese government.

The person arrested is a former Huawei sales director in Poland and has worked with government customers. He allegedly conducted high-level espionage on behalf of China.

Poland’s counterintelligence agency seized documents from the man’s office and home. The person has yet to be named by Poland officials, but WSJ’s sources claim that the man is Weijing Wang, and is known as Stainslaw Wang in Poland. The man attended a top Chinese intelligence school, and was a former Chinese consulate in Gdnask.

According to Wang’s former acquaintances, he is well-known in local business circles and was highly active in events.

In addition, Poland Internal Security Agency also arrested a Polish official who understands the Polish government’s encrypted communication network infrastructure. It isn’t yet known if he directly worked with Wang, but was also charged with espionage.

The Polish citizen previously held director-level positions in the country’s law-enforcement agencies, said Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s security coordination office.

If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

Poland security officials also searched the offices of Orange, one of the most subscribed telecommunication providers in Poland. Orange has worked closely with Huawei to install 5G infrastructures.

A Huawei spokesperson told WSJ that the company is aware of the situation and is looking into it, adding that it requires employees to complies with the country’s laws and regulations.

Poland security officials have yet to state the extent and details of the information leaked.

Huawei has been scrutinized for security concerns over its involvement in the development of 5G infrastructures. Last month, Huawei’s CFO Wang Mei Zhou was arrested in Vancouver Canada for allegedly allowing Huawei to violate a US sanction against Iran. She was granted bail by the Canadian supreme court in December 2018.