INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Katherine Jenkins is among the artists who have performed at Huawei's concerts
for the Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust has become the latest organisation to back away from Huawei, following security
fears raised about the Chinese tech firm.The youth charity, which was founded by Prince Charles, said it was "not accepting new donations
from Huawei in light of public concerns".The company had supported the trust for more than a decade.University of Oxford and Queen's
initiative involving Huawei - said its partnership was not affected."We review all of our relationships regularly
This case is no different," said a spokesman for the university.Likewise, the University of Surrey - which houses one of the country's
leading 5G research centres - said it would maintain its links to the firm."We will continue to work with all our research partners,
including Huawei, unless there are clear and compelling reasons not to," said a spokesman.Huawei also has ties to the Universities of York,
Southampton, Reading and Edinburgh Napier among others.Feared threatHuawei faces claims that it poses a potential threat to countries that
use its technologies, because Beijing might coerce it into providing a way to spy on its clients' communications networks or crash them
during an international dispute.The company's founder Ren Zhengfei recently told foreign media that he would "never harm the interest of my
customers" and that his company would "not answer to such requests".Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Huawei's founder
has denied it would help spy on data transmitted via its equipment
But the US government - which has been one of Huawei's
leading critics - does not accept such assurances."Huawei has a profit incentive to act in good faith," a Department of Homeland Security
official told the Wall Street Journal."But the party will get what they want."'Disappointed'Huawei has supported the Prince's Trust since
2007 and was made one of its patrons in 2016, in recognition of the level of support it had provided.The company has donated a total of
At parties hosted by Huawei at the event, a disadvantaged young person helped by the trust would regularly give an account of how they had
been supported to start a business or otherwise improve their situation.The fixtures attracted several leading members of society, but were
not attended by Prince Charles himself.Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Prince Charles is the president of the
Prince's Trust but does not involve himself with many of its sponsorship activities
"We were disappointed to hear this news
from the trust, as we have the greatest respect for the excellent work it does with young people," said a spokesman for Huawei."We are proud
of our 10-year partnership and of course hope we can work together again in the future
"We regret that decisions of this sort are being taken as a result of ill-informed and unfounded discourse about Huawei."A spokeswoman for
the trust said that: "Future donations will continue to be reviewed by our Ethical Fundraising Committee."She added that the firm would
retain its status as a patron "until all current commitments have been delivered".Overtaking SamsungRestrictions on Huawei's ability to sell
its 5G gear to overseas mobile networks threaten its profits, after it has spent huge sums on developing the technologies.In the UK, for
example, BT has already said it will not use the firm's equipment in the "core" of its network, although it still plans to use its phone
mast antennas and other products elsewhere
But even this could be constrained if the government decides to act on "deep concerns", voiced by the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, on
the use of its kit.The company has reportedly written to staff saying jobs may need to be cut if it has to lower its targets.Huawei,
however, remains confident about the performance of its handset business, which continues to grow despite it failing to secure a
distribution deal with a US network.The unit shipped 208 million handsets in 2018, putting it behind only Samsung.Image
copyrightReutersImage caption
Huawei believes that it can overtake Samsung in smartphone sales soon
"Even without the US market we will be number one in the world," the firm's consumer division chief, Richard Yu, has told reporters in
Beijing."I believe at the earliest this year and next year at the latest."He added that Huawei would unveil a foldable-screened handset at
the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.In other related developments:Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum, has said that
Huawei's chief financial officer had "quite good arguments on her side" to oppose her extradition to the US from Vancouver
Mr McCallum suggested that "political involvement by comments from Donald Trump," in which the president suggested he might intervene if it
helped him secure a trade deal, could weigh on Canada's decision over whether to comply with the US's expected requestseveral US
universities have removed video conferencing systems made by Huawei while others are considering doing so, according to Reuters
The news agency said that the establishments feared they could lose federal funding if they did not do sothe House of Commons' Science and
Technology Committee has written to ministers asking what assessment has been made of the risk of Beijing compelling Chinese companies to
It has also written to Huawei itself seeking reassurances, and requested a reply by 29 January
