Huawei sponsors All White game

UPDATE Oct 26: There's no free Coldplay gigs for NZ, but Huawei is also on the front on this side of the Tasman, too.

This afternoon, the Chinese telecommunications company said it would sponsor a match between the All Whites and China to "mark 40 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China."

The match will be held in Shanghai on November 14.

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Huawei Aussie PR assault continues with free Coldplay gigs

UPDATE Oct 25: Huawei's PR assault on Australia continued today as the Chinese telecommunications company announced two free Cold Play concerts.

One will be at a so-far-secret "intimate venue" early in the day on November 15 (tickets are being dished out via the company's Facebook page, the charmingly-named Huawei Device Australia).

Later the same day, Coldplay will play a second concert at another venue, also intimate. The second concert will be simulcast by a local radio station, and webcast through Huawei's Facebook page.

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In Australia, Huawei pushes back with a cunning plan

Oct 24: Huawei, blocked from Australia's $A37 billion National Broadband Network (NBN), has hit back with a cunning plan.

Stories in the AFR and other Aussie media confidently predict Huawei Australia chairman John Lord will call for the creation of a cyber security evaluation centre.

Huawei wants the government to test its gear (with full access to its source code), and that of any company that wants to participate in a "critical infrastructure" project.

Nitpickers will wonder how a speech by Mr Lord - to be delivered to the National Press Club in Canberra this afternoon - has been so widely leaked.

And in practical terms, a cyber security evaluation centre would prove little.

As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, all the major telecommunications infrastructure makers leave back doors and vulnerabilities - the question, unknowable from technical testing, is whether the security gaps are accidental or on purpose, and whether they will be exploited.

Still, politically it's a clever play.

And, Lord knows - so to speak -  life at Huawei Australia is all about politics and PR (the chairman is a retired Admiral, sending a subtle message about security).