China: You’ll pay for snubbing Huawei
Diplomat warns 5G spy row may hit investment in UK
A CHINESE diplomat yes- terday warned of ‘substantial’ consequences if Huawei is blocked from helping to build Britain’s 5G internet network.
Chen Wen, China’s chargé d’affaires in London, said banning the firm could prompt her country’s investors to scale back support for the UK. Her comments come as American officials are lobbying for Huawei to be banned from the 5G project immediately.
The company has been hit by controversy over its suspected ties to China’s communist government. Critics say its equipment could be used for spying if it is allowed in new mobile and internet networks. The UK is yet to decide what role Huawei will be allowed to play and may allow it to supply some ‘non-core’ kit such as masts. But yesterday Miss Chen warned against an outright ban and claimed it could damage the UK economy.
She told the BBC’s World at One: ‘The message is not going to be very positive.
‘Is the UK still open? Is the UK still extending a welcoming arm to other Chinese investors?’ Asked how bad the consequences could be, she replied: ‘It’s hard to predict at the moment, but I think it’s going to be quite substantial.’
She accused the Americans of ‘hysteria’ about the rise of Chinese firms and insisted her government would never ask a company to spy on its behalf.
Huawei has also denied it is influenced by China’s government and claims it would refuse if it was ordered to hand over secret data.
But this week the US ramped up pressure on Huawei by branding it a national security risk and adding it to a ‘blacklist’ – effectively blocking American firms from doing business with it. That prompted a host
‘Deeply tied to the Communist Party’
of western companies to halt cooperation with the Chinese giant.
In the UK, mobile networks EE and Vodafone have both pulled its 5G handsets from a line-up of new phones they will launch.
That was after Google, which makes the Android software used by Huawei’s phones, said it was withdrawing its support. On the same day, British chip maker Arm said it would halt cooperation with Huawei as well – potentially crippling the Chinese firm’s ability to develop new smartphones.
Arm designs chips that are used in most of the world’s handsets and Huawei currently licenses these designs – meaning it may be forced to find alternatives or develop its own if the row is not resolved. Arm’s decision followed similar moves by other chip companies such as Qualcomm, as well as Japanese electronics giant Panasonic.
Huawei has branded Washington’s actions ‘politically motivated’ saying they are designed to put maximum pressure on China, which is locked in a bitter trade war with the US.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said: ‘The US use of state power to arbitrarily exert pressure on a private Chinese company like Huawei is typical economic bullying.
‘Some people in the US do not want China to enjoy the legitimate right to develop. This extremely presumptuous and egocentric American approach is not able to gain the approval and support of the international community.’
But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday accused the company of lying about its links with China’s government. ‘Huawei is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party,’ he said. ‘To say that they don’t work with the Chinese government is a false statement.’