Telephone outfit Huawei has upped the ante on those who claim that it is a tool for the Chinese government.

US politicians are trying to get Huawei banned from the country claiming that its software and hardware has backdoors that allow the Chinese government to steal US secrets. Huawei has denied the claim, pointing out that the US lawmakers are ignoring evidence and are going with their rather ample guts over the daft allegations.

To prove it, the company has said that it will hand over source code of products to spooks to see if they can find any backdoors. The move is being tested in Australia, which tends to obey the US will on everything and even had a crack at leaning on New Zealand when the latter would not allow nuclear weapons into its harbour. Australia has previously blocked Huawei's plans to bid for work on its national broadband network.

Huawei said that it requires a collaborative approach by all to ensure we can create the most secure telecommunications environment possible. It has also called for Australia to set up a cyber evaluation centre to test equipment used in the country's communication networks. This could be funded by various telecom equipment vendors and operated by "security-cleared Australian nationals".

Mr Lord said that a similar centre had been established in the UK and that Huawei had given British security agencies access to its source codes, allowing them to test the security credentials of its equipment.