U.S. Raises Concerns about South Korea Deal with China's Huawei

The Obama Administration is privately raising concerns with officials in South Korea about their plans to let a Chinese telecommunications giant develop the country's advanced wireless network, expanding a quiet campaign to warn key allies against integrating the Chinese technology into their systems.

The US effort in South Korea, which followed a similar push with close ally Australia, shows the extent to which the Obama Administration is concerned about the expansion of China's Huawei Technologies. in building critical telecommunications networks for key allies. Washington sees as a risk that the company's equipment could be used for spying on communications among its partners, US officials say. The move in South Korea could add to rising tensions with China. US military and intelligence officials have long warned that China poses a cyber-espionage threat to US defense systems and companies. US officials said the South Korea telecommunications network is particularly sensitive because of the presence of US forces there to help defend the country against North Korea.