Pompeo’s Huawei remarks slammed
US spreading rumours about company without any evidence, says China
BEIJING: China has denounced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for fabricating rumours after he claimed that the chief executive of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was lying about his company’s ties to the Beijing government.
The United States placed Huawei on a trade blacklist last week, effectively banning US firms from doing business with the world’s largest telecom network gear maker and escalating a trade battle between the world’s two biggest economies.
Huawei has repeatedly denied that it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services.
Pompeo, speaking on Thursday, also dismissed Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei’s assertions that his company would never share user secrets.
Pompeo added that he believed more American companies would cut ties with the tech giant.
“Recently, some US politicians have been continually fabricating rumours about Huawei but have never produced the clear evidence that countries have requested,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said yesterday, when asked to comment on Pompeo’s remarks.
The United States has been rallying its allies to persuade them not to use Huawei for their 5G networks, citing security concerns.
Lu said the US government was provoking suspicion among the American public to confuse and instigate opposition.
US President Donald Trump also said on Thursday that US complaints against Huawei might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant “very dangerous”.
Lu said he didn’t know what Trump was talking about.
“Frankly, I’m actually not sure what the specific meaning of the US leader, the US side, is,” he said.
If reporters were interested they should ask the United States to clarify, he added.
Lu reiterated that the United States should stop using its national power to suppress and smear other countries’ companies.
He added that China wanted to resolve the differences between the two countries through friendly dialogue as well as consultation. — Reuters