No, we don’t tell tech brands to spy: China

BEIJING:CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang on Friday has firmly denied that his country directs tech companies to spy abroad, putting on record Beijing’s highestlevel rejection of spying accusations levelled against telecom giant Huawei.

Tension between China and several western countries like the US have recently risen over charges levelled against the world’s largest vendor of telecom equipment.

Huawei itself has denied the allegations, but that hasn’t stopped Washington from imposing curbs on the use of its technology.

“Let me tell you explicitly that this is not consistent with Chinese law. This is not how China behaves. We did not do that and will not do that in the future,” Li said when asked whether Beijing has told Chinese companies to spy on foreign countries.

Li was addressing the premier’s annual press conference marking the end of the parliament session, the Two Sessions, at the Great Hall of the People.

Li spoke on several issues including China’s growth, economic outlook, the Korean Peninsula, trade war with the US, the Taiwan issue and creating a level-playing field for foreign companies.

He spoke at length, responding to questions that appeared to be somewhat stage-managed.

On trade tensions with the US, he said China doesn’t want to see a trade war with the US - something that would pit the world’s two biggest economies against each another. “That would not make our trade fairer,” he said.

“If there were a trade war, it would be foreign-funded companies, particularly US firms, that would first bear the brunt,” Li said, citing an article written by an international think tank.