Chinese Embassy strongly opposes Germany’s decision on Huawei, ZTE 5G issues

On Thursday night, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Germany expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to Germany's decision to phase out Huawei, ZTE telecom gear from its 5G network, warning the move will seriously undermine the mutual trust between the two sides and will also affect the future cooperation between China and the EU in the relevant fields.

Chinese experts on Friday said Germany's decision suggests that it is under greater pressure from the US and the EU, warning that the removal of Chinese components from its 5G network will have significant cost and hinder the country's communications development.

Reuters reported on Thursday that under the preliminary agreement driven by "security considerations," the German government and telecom carriers in the country have agreed in principle on steps to take out components made by Chinese companies from the nation's 5G wireless network during the next five years.

In response, the spokesperson said that Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese communications companies have long been operating in Germany in compliance with the law, making a positive contribution to the German digitalization process.

Huawei, ZTE 5G issue essentially is a behavior of individual countries to suppress their competitors beyond the bottom line in order to safeguard their own scientific and technological hegemony, the spokesperson said, noting that the so-called cybersecurity risk is nothing more than a pretext. In fact, no country has so far produced any conclusive evidence of the existence of security risks in the equipment of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson added.

"The German side's announcement of the relevant decision at the time of the NATO Summit in Washington has further caused China to seriously question the independence of its decision-making," the spokesperson noted.

"Germany's move can be seen as politicizing economic cooperation, as the country is now facing more pressure from the US and the EU," Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

Openness is mutual, and China's 5G construction has always been open to European companies such as Nokia and Ericsson, and has never seen them as a security threat. Germany's move is naked political discrimination, which seriously undermines the mutual trust between the two sides and will also affect the future cooperation between China and the EU in the relevant fields, said the spokesperson.

Sun noted that Germany's digital infrastructure is relatively backward, while Huawei and ZTE's equipment is leading in terms of technology, integrated solutions and cost-effective products.

"The cost of the transition is expected to be significant, which will limit the development of all areas of the country's digital economy including smart driving, smart healthcare and manufacturing automation factory," the expert warned.

The German and European sides cannot, on the one hand, demand fair competition and, on the other hand, discriminate against companies from other countries on the basis of unfounded so-called potential security risks, said the spokesperson.

Whether the relevant issues can be handled fairly and impartially is a litmus test of Germany's own business environment. By then, not only the normal economic and trade cooperation between the two countries will be affected, but also the confidence of foreign investors in Germany. China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson noted.

Not only Germany, but also a number of other European countries are faced with the challenge of balancing the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment to drive their 5G network development and digital infrastructure development with responsiveness to US and EU pressures, Sun said.

China hopes Germany will respect facts and make reasonable decisions, and urges the European country to provide a fair market environment for enterprises from all countries, including Chinese companies, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a press conference on Thursday.