Stung by tech ban, China accuses UK of discrimination

BEIJING: China accused Britain on Wednesday of improperly attacking Chinese tech companies after the British government proposed a law to block market access to telecom equipment giant Huawei and other vendors that are deemed high-risk.

The foreign ministry gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate if the law proposed on Tuesday is approved. It would tighten security requirements for next-generation wireless and optical fiber networks and fine violators.

The Trump administration is lobbying European and other allies to avoid Huawei and other Chinese vendors as they upgrade telecom networks. Washington says Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, is a security risk, which the company denies.

“Without evidence, the British side has repeatedly cooperated with the US to discriminate against and suppress Chinese companies under the pretext of unfounded risks,” said a ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

Britain is “blatantly violating the principles of market economy and free trade, seriously damaging the normal operations of Chinese companies” and hurting trust between the two governments, Zhao said.

Taiwanese professor gets four years in jail

China sentenced a Taiwanese professor to four years in jail for spying, officials said on Wednesday, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei deteriorate further.

It comes a month after Shih Cheng-ping, a former chief economist for Chinese conglomerate Huaxia Group, made a televised “confession” on state media.

The retired National Taiwan Normal University professor was found guilty by a Chinese court on Tuesday, Beijing’s Taiwan affairs office said at a press briefing. Shih had disappeared after travelling to the mainland in August 2018.