China Says to Take Necessary Action to Safeguard Companies’ Interests Abroad
BEIJING, July 15- China will take all necessary actions to safeguard the legal rights of Chinese companies working in foreign markets, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in reaction to the United Kingdom’ s sanctioning of communications giant Huawei. On Tuesday, UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden said that the government…
BEIJING, July 15 (Sputnik) – China will take all necessary actions to safeguard the legal rights of Chinese companies working in foreign markets, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in reaction to the United Kingdom’s sanctioning of communications giant Huawei.
On Tuesday, UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden said that the government would ban Huawei-produced equipment for 5G networks and order UK mobile providers to remove all Huawei equipment by 2027. According to Dowden, this decision was made over national security considerations and sanctions imposed by the US against Huawei.
“This is not just a question about one company or one industry, but a question about the British side trying to politicize commercial and technological issues without worry about the consequences. It’s a question of China’s investments in the UK facing obvious threats and whether we can maintain our confidence that the British market will remain open, fair and indiscriminate,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing Wednesday.
Hua went on to assure that China will take steps to back its companies’ foreign ventures where necessary.
“China will evaluate this incident fully and seriously, and take all necessary actions to safeguard the legal rights of Chinese companies,” Hua said at the briefing in Beijing.
The UK’s decision marks a significant u-turn for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who previously stated that the Chinese company would be allowed to work on non-sensitive parts of the UK’s 5G network.
In late June, Huawei was approved to begin work on an optoelectronic research and development center in the UK city of Cambridge. The company plans to invest 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) into the site, which will create roughly 400 jobs.
The UK was among the states that introduced restrictions against Huawei after the United States imposed sanctions on the company due to allegations that the company was working with the Chinese government. The firm refutes the claims as unjustified and politically motivated and says they contradict competitive practices.
