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China economy
Economy

China opposes ‘politicisation’ of 5G technology as US lobbies allies to exclude Huawei

  • Beijing says it opposes the politicisation of 5G technology and it is an exaggeration to link Chinese products with national security concerns
  • The Trump administration has been urging Britain to ban Huawei from its future 5G networks on the grounds the equipment could be used for spying

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Miao Wei, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology, says it is an exaggeration to link Chinese products with national security concerns. Photo: Simon Song
Amanda Lee

China opposes “politicising” 5G technology and welcomes foreign companies in joint development of next generation wireless products, the country’s technology minister said on Monday, in comments that appeared to be a jab at Washington’s lobbying of its allies to exclude Huawei from building telecoms networks.

The minister, Miao Wei, said it was an exaggeration to link Chinese products with national security concerns.

“In the internet era, no technology can be developed independently by a country behind closed doors, and no application can be used within a country,” Miao said at a press conference in Beijing.

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“On the issue of security, we oppose politicising technical issues … and hope we can jointly study technology with other countries to maximise gains and minimise harms [of 5G].”

On the issue of security, we oppose politicising technical issues … and hope we can jointly study technology with other countries to maximise gains and minimise harms [of 5G]
Miao Wei

Miao said China would continue opening its 5G development to the rest of the world and had already created a research platform that allowed foreign firms – including Qualcomm, Intel, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung – to work with Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE.

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