China will move to protect its firms following U.S. telecoms ban

BEIJING: China opposes the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's ban on new Chinese telecommunications equipment sales, the commerce ministry said on Thursday, vowing to adopt necessary measures to safeguard the rights of its domestic firms.

The Biden administration on Friday banned the sale or import of new telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE, citing national security risks. "China will adopt necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of domestic firms," said Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting at a regular press conference, urging the United States to correct the wrongdoing and stop politicising and weaponising economic and trade issues.

The FCC's move represents Washington's latest crackdown on the Chinese tech giants amid fears that Beijing could use them to spy on Americans. Huawei and ZTE have consistently denied U.S. government allegations that it could spy on U.S. customers and poses a national security threat.

Washington designated five Chinese companies to the so-called "covered list" in March 2021: Huawei, ZTE, telecoms firm Hytera Communications Corp, video surveillance firm Hikvision and surveillance equipment maker Dahua. The commission said the following June that it was considering banning all equipment authorisations for the firms on the list. Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao expressed concerns over U.S. trade restrictions against China during a recent talk with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Shu said last week.