William Owens, the former vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whose company has teamed up with Huawei in a bid for a US telecoms contract, said he had “no way of knowing” whether security concerns about the Chinese company within parts of the US government were legitimate.

Mr Owens, who is championing the Huawei deal among sceptical US security agencies and members of Congress, said his primary mission was to create a “trusted delivery process” that would enable Huawei technology to be safely implemented at SprintNextel and – ultimately – other US telecoms carriers.

Under the deal being proposed, his company – Amerilink – would buy equipment directly from Huawei that would then be tested and integrated into Sprint’s network by the US company and its US employees, many of whom are former Sprint executives.