Banks: Personal Attack by Huawei Executive “A Badge of Honor”
Washington,
June 28, 2018
Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, today responded to recent comments made by Eric Xu, Deputy Chairman of Chinese tech company Huawei, that criticized Banks and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “As the saying goes, ‘If you’re not catching flak you’re not over the target,’” Banks said. “Huawei has used academic surveillance to spy and collect intelligence on the United States, and now Huawei’s leaders are worried that their efforts to infiltrate America’s intellectual institutions are being exposed. I’ll wear this personal attack as a badge of honor and stay focused on defending America’s national security.” In an interview on Wednesday, Xu said Banks and Rubio “are quite closed-minded and ill-informed. It seems that their bodies are in the information age, but their minds are still in the agrarian age. Their behavior shows not just an ignorance of how science and innovation works today, but also their own lack of confidence.” Xu’s comments came on the heels of Congressman Banks and Senator Rubio recently sending a letter signed by 26 members of Congress to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos raising concerns that Huawei is exploiting research partnerships on U.S. college campuses to spy and steal intellectual property. The letter asked the Department of Education to look into Huawei’s research partnerships with more than 50 higher education institutions located in the United States. ### |