wz Huawei Technologies (Ireland) Co, Limited Mespil Court Mespil Road Dublin 4 Ireland 04 £516 ‘Ms Jacqui Me Crum ‘Secretary General Department of Defence Station Road Newbridge Co. Kildare ‘17th December 2020 Dear Secretary General | wish to refer to the article written by Dr. Richard Maher and included in the recently published Defence Forces Review 2020 (DFR). At the outset let me say that | am quite shocked and dismayed that such a piece would appear in the DFR. ifit had appeared in a newspaper, it would be required to show balance and Huawei would have a right of reply. While we note a disclaimer in the DFR Through the article, the DFR facilitates an extraordinary, and completely false attack on a specific private company operating in the State for over 16 years. We are a client ofthe IDA employing more than 600 people with firm plans for expansion, and an ongoing trong supporter of research in third level institutions throughout the country. ‘This year itis noted that all articles have been academically peer reviewed. It appears that the topic was decided, the editorial direction set and the author invited. The DFR was then published, launched ‘and has received considerable publicity, including specific coverage of the allegations in relation to Huawei. For the record | will restate a number of key facts here: : Huawei is a private company wholly owned by its employees. Our growth and success have been built entirely on the quality of our Research and Development. Over the past 30-plus, years we have consistently invested 10% to 15% of annual revenues into R&D, in 2018 we invested $19.3 billion. We hold 89,000 patents globally and from 2009 to 2019 weinvestedwz HUAWEI ‘$4 billion in 5G R&D alone. Itis this investment that drives our innovation and development and leads to our success. + Our relationship with the Chinese government is no different to any other private company which ‘operates in that country. Like other tech companies, domestic or foreign, we receive some policy ‘support in relation to R&D, but we have never got special treatment. 90% of our working capital ‘comes from our business operations and our external financing follows all market rules and aligns to market standards. + Huawei operates in 170 countries and we employ more than 194,000 people. We have never and will never access intellectual property and data covertly via telecom networks. Neither do we. have the capability to do soon customer networks. Additionally, global law firm Ciifford Chance Is on record as saying there is no Chinese law that could ever force Huaweito attempt sucha measure. We operate under the laws of the country where we do business. Huawei Ireland operates in Iretand and follows Irish and European law only. In our 18-year partnership with Ireland we have built our workforce to over 500 people across Dublin, Cork, Galway and Athione. In that time, we have invested over €100 milion in Irish R&D, including €70 million announced last year with a focus on key issues like, artificial intelligence, site reliability engineering, 5G ‘consumer use cases and autonomous driving networks. ‘We are supporting research programmes, infrastructure and scholarships in TU Dublin, UCD, ULand Trinity College Dublin. 5G in particular has the enormous potential to drive Irelanc's economy and international competitiveness for the rest of the 21st Century. Sadly, the attack in the Defence Forces Review undermines our dedicated, talented Irish team and the outstanding work they are engaged in Huawel is a strong supporter of the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression, but this is @ two-way street, We were not afforded any opportunity to counterbalance the false allegations made in the DFR which has now been published. | must ask for your full support in mitigating the damage that has been done and ensuring it does not contaminate the very important process under way at the moment which is 0 critical for Ireland and Huawei's collective future. Inthe circumstances, | would appreciate an urgent meeting with yourself and Minister Coveney to discuss this matter. Yours sincerely, 4 he Tony Yangxu Chief Executive Huawei Ireland CC: Mr Simon Coveney T.D.., Minister for Defence Vice Admiral Mark Meliett DSM, Defence Forces Chief of Staff HUAWEITECHNOLOGIES IRELAND) CO, LIMITED Directors Company regret ans JanLl (Chinese pi Cour, enol Road Dubin , lars, DO4 ES YYenliSHi (Chinese) sou soar tied VAT Monae Be aE Sheng ING (Chinese