Published 13:23 IST, July 28th 2020
'Biggest Human Rights Abuse is using human rights as excuse to repress Huawei': China
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson of China Hua Chunying has targeted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his stand against Chinese telecom firm Huawei.
Amid the volatile relations between the US and China over a range of issues, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson of China, Hua Chunying has targeted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his stand against Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei. The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson accused the US of threatening other nations not to do business with Huawei.
Her criticism comes after Pompeo on Sunday, July 26 announced visa restrictions on employees of various Chinese tech companies, accusing the firms like Huawei of providing material support to governments engaged in human rights abuses, both at home and abroad.
According to reports, last week in a statement Pompeo said: "Telecommunications companies around the world should consider themselves on notice -- If they are doing business with Huawei, they are doing business with human rights abusers."
US Secretary of State Pompeo, in his speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library on July 23, accused China of tricking the US and the western world with its theory of ‘Peaceful Rise’. Pompeo levelled several allegations against China, from aggression in the international arena to human rights abuses at home.
The US Secretary of State went on to add that since the start of US-China relationship, they had hoped that as the Asian country became prosperous, it would open up and become less of a threat abroad. Pompeo said that the hope is now no more, and China failed to follow the path of change Nixon had hoped for.
World perspective on Huawei
The US has officially designated Huawei and ZTE as posing threat to the country's national security and hence, banned it. Australia has also banned Huawei from participating in the development of its 5G network. New Zealand has also restricted its service provider from using Huawei 5G equipment. Canada too has ditched Huawei and got onboard Ericsson and Nokia for building its 5G network. However, Canada is reviewing the security implications of using Huawei equipment in the development of 5G.
European Union which did not call for a complete ban but said the countries can restrict high-risk 5G vendors targeting Huawei, however, the decision is left to the member nations whether they want to incorporate the risky vendors or not. France although has ruled out a complete ban on Huawei equipment for its 5G network; however, telecom companies are being coaxed to avoid involving the Chinese company. Singapore's wireless network operators also shunted Huawei by choosing Nokia and Ericsson for the development of its 5G networks.
Updated 13:23 IST, July 28th 2020