China warns US a er Huawei banned
BEIJING: China warned the United States yesterday against further harming trade ties a er President Donald Trump effectively barred Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the US market, escalating tensions between the world’s top economic powerhouses.
At the same time, Beijing’s diplomatic relations with O awa further soured as China formally arrested two Canadians on suspicion of snatching state secrets in a case seen as retaliation over Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive on a US extradition request.
The spat over Huawei adds to the uncertainty over efforts to revive a deal that would end a bruising US-China trade war a er the two sides exchanged fire with tariff hikes in recent days.
The Chinese commerce ministry said yesterday it had no information on a US plan to come to Beijing to continue talks, a er US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would likely visit China in the near future.
“The US’s bullying and maximum pressure tactics have caused the China-US economic and trade talks to suffer a serious setback,” ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly press briefing.
Trump stepped up the US ba le against Huawei on Wednesday when he signed an executive order prohibiting the purchase or use of equipment from companies that pose “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States” or the safety of the American people.
While the White House insisted that no particular country or company was targeted, Huawei is likely to be hit by the move amid concerns that its equipment could be used by Chinese intelligence services.
The US Commerce Department followed up with a more direct hit on the tech giant, adding it to a blacklist that will make it much harder for the firm to use crucial US components in its array of phones, telecom gear, databases and other electronics.
“We urge the US to stop its incorrect actions... to avoid doing additional harm to China-US economic and trade relations,” Gao said.
“China has said many times national security issues should not be abused.”
The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said it would add Huawei and its affiliates to its “entity list” over alleged Iran sanctions violations.
The listing requires US firms to get a licence from BIS for the sale or transfer of American technology to a company or person on the list.
“A licence may be denied if the sale or transfer would harm US national security or foreign policy interests,” a Commerce Department statement said.
“This will prevent American technology from being used by foreign-owned entities in ways that potentially undermine US national security or foreign policy interests,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said.
And US Senator Tom Co on, from Trump’s Republican Party, tweeted: “@Huawei 5G, RIP. Thanks for playing.”
American officials have been trying to persuade allies not to allow China a role in building next-generation 5G mobile networks, warning that doing so would result in restrictions on sharing of information with the United States.
US government agencies are already banned from buying equipment from Huawei, a rapidly expanding leader in the 5G technology.
Huawei said “unreasonable restrictions” will infringe upon its rights and raise serious legal issues.
“Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives,” the firm said in a statement.
We urge the US to stop its incorrect actions... to avoid doing additional harm to China-US economic and trade relations. Gao Feng