Australia’s defence department phased out Chinese phones after US intelligence’s security warning

Beijing. March 1. Silkroadnews - The Australian government agency stops using two Chinese phone brands, as the US warns about possible security concerns, Business Insider reports.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed it no longer uses Huawei phones and refuses to use ZTE mobile phones.
“Defence has a quantity of aging ZTE mobile phones in service that are used for unclassified voice and text purposes. Existing ZTE mobile phones, when they fail, are being replaced with an alternate unclassified voice and text mobile handset,” the agency quoted saying by a Defense Department spokesman.
The risk assessment was carried out on both phones for unclassified voice and text messages, and the department “deemed that these mobile phones do not pose a security risk for Defence.”
But it seems to contradict the recent warnings by the US officials. Earlier this month, six intelligence chiefs, including the heads of the CIA and FBI, testified they do not use, and would not recommend private citizens to use the products of Huawei and ZTE.
Reportedly, during his recent visit to the US, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was briefed by the head of the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security regarding concerns on Huawei’s desire to supply equipment for the new phone network in Australia.
On Monday, it was announced that the local Home Affairs Department would need to conduct a full national security assessment before Huawei could contribute to the project.
In 2012, Huawei was not allowed to tender for the National Broadband Network of Australia (NBN) due to cybersecurity concerns. During the Mobile World Congress this week, Huawei CEO Ken Hu called the concerns from Australia and the US “groundless suspicions.”
“Some people, some of our competitors, are using political ways to try and kick us out of the US market -- they can’t compete with us on the technology and innovation so they compete with us on the politics. We’re independent from any country, any government. We're not involved in politics,” Richard Yu, the head of consumer products at Huawei, said.