Peer 'baffled' by claims he was targeted by fake PR campaign to boost Huawei

A peer has said he was not “putty in the hands of manipulators” in response to extraordinary claims he was among several public figures targeted by a fake PR campaign aimed at favourably boosting perceptions of the Chinese technology company Huawei.

The alleged covert campaign involved inviting British politicians and industrialists to participate in staged radio interviews and emailing them fake news, according to a dossier partly produced by the firm co-founded by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele.

Called China’s Elite Capture, the 86-page dossier alleges that Beijing was behind the campaign – a claim denied by the country’s ambassador to the UK – although it was unclear how effective it could have been.

Nevertheless, Huawei’s political critics are expected to seize on the emerging allegations, and believe they could add to pressure on Downing Street to reverse plans to allow the Chinese company to build up to 35% of Britain’s 5G network.

One of those allegedly targeted in a fake PR campaign was Lord Clement-Jones, a Liberal Democrat peer, who said there was no need to use elaborate methods to reach him, as he has sat on the international advisory board of Huawei.

“My connection to the company is well known. They don’t have to have fake radio shows to reach me as far as I’m concerned. It’s all very baffling. It’s all a fantasy. We are not putty in the hand of manipulators,” he said.

Huawei denied being behind any such PR campaign and issued a statement as some of the dossier’s contents began to leak.

A spokesperson said: “We categorically refute these unfounded allegations, which do not bear scrutiny and are regrettably the latest in the long-running US campaign against Huawei. They are designed to deliver maximum reputational damage to our business and have no basis in fact.”

An emergency review into the security of Huawei technology conducted by the UK’s National Security Cyber Centre (NSCC) has concluded that recently imposed US sanctions preventing Huawei using American software and microchips will make its equipment less secure.

The British culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, is expected to discuss with No 10 how to respond, amid intense pressure from a group of Conservative backbenchers to eliminate Huawei from the telecoms network entirely.

Compiled with the help of Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, the new dossier is understood to claim that firms running the campaign were paid $30,000 (£24,000) a month and that the activities ran from 2017 until at least 2019.

It claimed that the idea was to invite some British figures on to faked foreign radio shows, where the other guests’ sole intention was to persuade them to be supportive of Huawei. However, the document is not expected to be published.

Commissioned by a New York film producer, Andrew Duncan, the dossier also said that China wants to establish a presence in the UK’s critical national infrastructure through Huawei, and in nuclear energy at sites such as at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

Another alleged target of a covert PR campaign was former Conservative and Lib Dem MP Sarah Wollaston, who before losing her seat at the last election was chairman of the liaison committee, which has the power to question the prime minister.

The ex-MP said she had “no way of knowing” if she had been targeted and could not remember any contact with Huawei, other than an offer made through an intermediary to sponsor an event last spring to celebrate 40 years of select committees.

“Once I heard the offer was from Huawei, I said I didn’t want to get involved,” Wollaston, who represented Totnes, said. “If they made any other approaches, they never got to me,” she added.

Two industrialists, Sir Mike Rake, the former chairman of BT, and Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord Lieutenant of London, were also allegedly targeted. They both now sit on Huawei’s UK advisory board, but deny they were influenced.

Rake said he had “no contact with any third-party organisation or social media purporting to support Huawei” while Olisa said: “I was surprised to discover I turned up on radio shows in India and I’d love to hear the recording.”

The Tory rebels want minsters to halt the installation of new Huawei 5G equipment by the end of this year and tear out existing kit by the end of 2023, six years earlier than a deadline floated over the weekend to Sunday newspapers.

Rebel sources complained that 2029 was too late and want ministers to commit to a two-step process of “no new kit by the end of this year and ripping out old kit by 2023” – although they say they are willing to be flexible if Downing St is prepared to negotiate.

They estimate they have more than 50 MPs on their side, in a group led by Iain Duncan Smith and Bob Seely, which also includes former cabinet members such as David Davis and Owen Paterson.

On Monday, China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, accused some British politicians of regarding China as a “threat” or a “hostile country” in an online press conference. “We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences,” he added.

The ambassador added that he “would totally reject” any suggestion of interference in the UK’s internal affairs.