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US Vice-President Mike Pence visits Polish and US soldiers at the 1st Airlift Base in Warsaw on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

US Vice-President Mike Pence praises Poland for ‘protecting telecoms sector from China’ by arresting Huawei executive

  • US vice-president says the arrest of a Huawei executive suspected of spying shows Poland’s ‘commitment’ to secure telecommunications
  • Pence also offered a full-throated defence of the Nato alliance, as US Secretary of State warned of Russia’s ‘grand designs’
Huawei

The United States welcomes Poland’s commitment to “protecting the telecoms sector from China”, US Vice-President Mike Pence said in Warsaw on Wednesday.

In January, Poland arrested a Chinese employee of Chinese tech giant Huawei and a former Polish security official on spying allegations.

“The recent action your government has taken against a Huawei executive and a Polish national accused of cooperating with him demonstrate your government’s commitment to ensure our telecommunications sector is not compromised in a way that threatens our national security,” Pence told a press conference.

“We must continue to work so that all investment review mechanisms protect critical security and economic infrastructure going forward,” he said.

China and Russia ‘eroding sovereignty and freedom’ in Europe, says top US diplomat Mike Pompeo

Pence was speaking during a joint press conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.

He offered a full-throated defence of the Nato alliance, while US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo warned about Russia’s “grand designs” on Europe. Trump administration officials have been travelling across Europe ahead of a key security conference.

Polish President Andrzej Duda (right) greets US Vice-President Mike Pence at the 1st Airlift Base in Warsaw on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

“We are with you, we will stand with you, and the United States of America stands with Poland in the most successful mutual-defence alliance in the history of the world – an alliance that each of you serves to uphold and defend – the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,” Pence told US and Polish troops at Okecie airport near Warsaw on Wednesday.

Before Donald Trump became president, statements like that were seen as boilerplate. But given Trump’s criticism of Nato – and his repeated warnings that alliance members aren’t spending enough on defence – America’s allies pay attention to every utterance.

Pompeo warns America might scale back European partnerships if countries continue business with Huawei

“Under President Trump, the United States will always put the security and prosperity of America first,” Pence said. “But as the president has made clear – and as all of you prove every single day – ‘America First’ does not mean America alone.”

US Vice President Mike Pence (left) with Poland's President Andrzej Duda at the 1st Airlift Base in Warsaw on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Pence and Pompeo are in Poland for an international summit on the Middle East this week, with the vice-president continuing after that to an annual security conference in Munich.

The top US diplomat, who landed at a Nato base about 70km (44 miles) from the border with Russian-controlled Kaliningrad, picked up on the theme of Nato as a bulwark against threatened Russian aggression on the eastern front.

“Now, it is every ally’s responsibility to keep Europe free,” Pompeo said Wednesday. “Russia has grand designs of dominating Europe and reasserting its influence on the world stage. Vladimir Putin seeks to splinter the Nato alliance, weaken the United States and disrupt Western democracies.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda and US Vice-President Mike Pence meet with Polish and US soldiers at the 1st Airlift Base in Warsaw on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Pompeo’s comments came a day after he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to the State Department, Pompeo told the top Russian diplomat that the US remains committed to holding Moscow accountable for its alleged chemical weapons attack on a former spy in the UK last year.

He also urged Russia to come into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to avert the planned exit from the accord by the US.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

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