Beijing calls EU decision encouraging

China’s top diplomat to the European Union on Tuesday described as “encouraging” the EU’s decision to allow Huawei in its 5G networks despite heavy pressure from the United States for the Chinese telecom giant to be shut out.

Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, made the remark at a news conference days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched aggressive attacks on Huawei at the 56th Munich Security Conference last weekend.

“The response by the EU, and some of its member states, has so far been encouraging. They have abided by the principle of fairness, justice and non-discrimination. I think it’s the basic principle under a market economy,” Zhang said.

At the Munich conference, Pelosi warned European nations “don’t go near Huawei”, while Esper said that a decision to let Huawei build 5G networks in the EU would jeopardize the bloc’s security cooperation and intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US.

Calling Huawei an outstanding, trustworthy and internationally recognized private company, Zhang said the US government has so far failed to produce any solid evidence to back up its accusation that Huawei’s 5G products are unsafe.

He said a recent news report that the CIA had used a Swiss company called Crypto AG to spy on many countries around the world helps him to better understand why the US has been so insistent in cracking down on Huawei.

Using a Chinese idiom that means “to gauge the heart of a gentleman with one’s own mean measure”, Zhang noted that since the US had used that company for spying purposes, it would groundlessly accuse others of doing the same.

He said some believe that the US attack on Huawei is aimed at impeding China’s development.

“I believe for China, an ancient civilization, achieving modernization is the trend and the aspiration of 1.4 billion people. It is unstoppable,” he said.

Zhang said that Chinese and EU companies have been in close cooperation on 5G technology, citing Ericsson and Nokia as companies that have excelled in the next generation of mobile technology and which are working closely with Huawei in sharing patents among them.

He stressed that, as with 5G technology, the development of future high technology cannot be achieved by a single company or a single country operating alone.

“It must be a product of international cooperation. The same applies to cybersecurity, which should be safeguarded through international cooperation,” he said.

Moves by Europeans

The UK announced on Jan 28 that it would allow Huawei in noncore part of its 5G network, with a cap of 35 percent market share. A day later, the EU announced its toolbox for 5G deployment, which does not ban Huawei and leaves it up to the member countries to make their final decisions.

Germany’s Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union parties voted on Feb 11 against excluding Huawei from the country’s 5G networks, while advocating that strict conditions be imposed to minimize any security risks.

French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire confirmed that the government will not exclude Huawei from its 5G rollout. The same view was expressed by the Swedish authorities and Italian officials. But these countries also said they would set security reviews for vendors.

I believe for China, an ancient civilization, achieving modernization is the trend and the aspiration of 1.4 billion people. It is unstoppable.” Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU