Washington and allies say Huawei technology could be used to spy on China (File)
London:
China warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday that his decision to ban Huawei from the 5G network would cost Britain very much in terms of investment, which would have jeopardized that decision following politicized pressure from the president. American Donald Trump.
Hours after Johnson ordered the purge of Huawei equipment from the fledgling 5G network by the end of 2027, Trump claimed the ruling and said that if countries wanted to do business with the United States, they should block Huawei.
But China, whose economy of 15 trillion dollars represents five times the size of Great Britain, warned that this decision would harm the investments, the Chinese companies having watched London “drop” the national champion of telecommunications.
“Now I would even say that it is not only disappointing – it is disheartening,” said Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming to the Center for European Reform, adding that Britain had “simply abandoned this endeavor.”
“The way you treat Huawei is being followed very closely by other Chinese companies, and it will be very difficult for other companies to have the confidence of having more investments,” he said.
As Britain prepares to withdraw from the European Union, concerns over Huawei’s security have forced New York-born Johnson to take sides in the rivalry between the United States and China.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry presented Britain as “a relatively small place” that became subordinate to the United States.
“Does the UK want to keep its freelance status or be reduced to being a vassal of the United States, to be the paw of the American cat?” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “The security of Chinese investment in the UK is under serious threat.”
Chinese money
Britain has become increasingly dependent on Chinese imports. About 9% of all goods imported into Britain in 2018 – worth £ 43 billion ($ 54 billion) – came from China, double the proportion 15 years earlier.
But British companies have also invested more and more in China. Between 2013 and 2018, they more than doubled their investment position in the world‘s No. 2 economy to £ 16 billion, according to official British data.
In contrast, Chinese investment in British companies amounted to £ 1.8 billion in 2018 – well below that of the United States, which is the largest foreign investor in Britain.
Trump identifies China as the main geopolitical rival of the United States and accused the Communist-led state of profiting from trade and of not telling the truth about the new epidemic of coronavirus, which he calls the ” Chinese plague “.
Washington and its allies say Huawei technology could be used to spy on China. Huawei denied this.
“We have convinced many countries, many countries – I have done it myself for the most part – not to use Huawei, because we think it is a security risk, it is a big risk for security, “Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White Garden Rose Garden. .
“I have dissuaded many countries from using it: if they want to do business with us, they cannot use it. Even today, I think the UK has announced that it will not would not use. “
Britain has said its ban on Huawei is motivated by its own security concerns and fears that the supply of Huawei equipment will be cut off by U.S. sanctions.
He denied that Trump is solely responsible for the Huawei ban. Asked about the comments, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “Well, we all know Donald Trump, don’t we.”
(Report by Guy Faulconbridge in London and Martin Pollard in Beijing; Edited by Michael Holden, Alex Richardson and Peter Graff)
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
