Huawei Aust chair laments 'China bashing'

The chairman of the Australian arm of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies is reportedly frustrated the company has been caught up in "China bashing".

Huawei Technologies Australia Chairman John Lord has hit out a 'China bashing' by the US. (AAP) Source: AAP

The Australian chairman of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies believes the company has been caught up in "China bashing".

A frustrated John Lord made the statement to The Australian Financial Review after the United States announced criminal charges would be laid against the global firm and its chief financial officer.

"There's a lot of China bashing going on and Huawei is getting swept up in that and it's frustrating for me and for our global board," he said on Wednesday.

The US on Monday brought sweeping charges against Huawei and Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou - the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei - who was arrested in Canada on December 1 at the request of the US.

But Huawei denies all of the violations cited in two separate indictments, which accuse the company of violating trade sanctions, lying to banks and stealing technology.

Mr Lord said the firm always tried to follow US and United Nations sanctions.

"I won't comment on the US sanctions because that's before the courts," he said.

"But the company does treat it all as a global issue and from day one, Ren (Zhengfei) said we obey all UN sanctions and US sanctions."

Huawei makes equipment including base stations, switches and routers, as well as consumer products such as smartphones.

The company derives nearly half of its total revenue outside of China.

But Australia, like New Zealand, has followed the lead of the US in restricting Huawei's market access over the past year.

Australia in August banned Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications equipment company, ZTE Corp, from involvement in the rollout of the nation's 5G network.

The first significant casualty of the ban came on Tuesday, with TPG Telecom announcing it was cancelling its $2 billion plan to build the nation's newest mobile network.

Both companies labelled the situation "extremely disappointing".

"It is extremely disappointing that the clear strategy the company had to become a mobile network operator at the forefront of 5G has been undone by factors outside of TPG's control," TPG executive chairman David Teoh said.

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