Have differences with Australia on 5G but will work cooperate: Huawei

Chinese telecoms giantHuaweisaid Friday it hadnoimmediate plans to mount alegalchallenge overAustralia's decision to bar the company's equipment from the 5G network Down Under.

A day after taking Donald Trump's administration to court for banning US federal agencies from buyingHuaweiproducts, the firm saidnosuch move was envisaged inAustralia.

"Whilst we have our differences with the federal government, we would still rather work cooperatively," a company spokesman told AFP.

"Alegalchallenge is not a priority at this moment."

Australiain August announced guidelines on contracts to build fifth generation mobile networks in the country which effectively barredHuawei and another Chinese giant, ZTE, from the project.

Canberra cited intelligence agency warningsagainstthe "involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government".

AsHuaweihas grown, fears have emerged that the company could effectively provide the Chinese state with a switch to cut critical infrastructure during a crisis.

WhileHuaweiinsists it is a private company, its founder Ren Zhengfei is a 74-year-old former People's Liberation Army engineer.

And while there arenoformal ties with the state, in practice large Chinese firms and the ruling Communist Party are intricately interlinked.

In 2015, Beijing passed a law obliging its corporations to aid the government on matters of national security.

That, coupled with Beijing's more muscular foreign and security policy overseas, has raised concerns among members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing collective.

All five members -Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States -have taken at least some steps toward limitingHuawei's role in sensitive infrastructure.

But at the same time,Huaweihas become enmeshed in local economies.

The companysaysits business inAustraliaalone is worth Aus$650 million and has 700 employees, and its equipment is used directly or indirectly by half the population.