US Vice-President Mike Pence urges leaders to reject the Chinese telecoms firm, saying Washington has been clear ‘on the threats posed’
Beijing and Washington traded barbs over Huawei Technologies and the South China Sea at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, as both sides also sought to sell their vision for regional security.
In a speech lasting almost 30 minutes, US Vice-President Mike Pence urged political leaders at the conference to reject the Chinese telecoms giant.
The US has been “very clear with our security partners on the threats posed by Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies”, Pence said.
“Chinese law requires them to provide Beijing’s vast security apparatus with access to any data that touches their networks or equipment,” he said, adding America’s allies must protect critical telecoms infrastructure.
Speaking immediately after Pence, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi said China rejected “technological hegemony”.
“We need to follow the new approach of win-win and all-win cooperation and abandon ideological prejudices and the outdated mentality of a zero-sum game, and a winner takes all,” Yang said.
In a question-and-answer session following his speech, Yang added that Huawei was cooperating closely with European countries on the fourth industrial revolution.
“Chinese law does not require companies to install a back door or collect intelligence,” he said.
