President Trump is waging a “technological war” against China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
“The situation around Huawei, for example, which is not only being sidelined, but blatantly squeezed out of the global market,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “That is already dubbed in certain circles as the first technological war of the upcoming digital era.”
U.S. officials have lobbied allied countries to cut ties with Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications giants, arguing that they present security risks due to the influence that Beijing’s spy services exert over the high-tech companies. Putin’s rhetorical defense was paired with a new agreement between Huawei and Russia’s largest telecommunications company to develop 5G, the next generation of wireless technology.
“States which previously promoted free trade with honest and open competition have started speaking the language of trade wars and sanctions, of open economic raiding using arm-twisting and scare tactics, of eliminating competitors using so-called nonmarket methods,” Putin said. “It’s a path to endless conflicts, trade wars, and maybe not just trade wars.”
Huawei’s status as a pioneer of 5G is a key factor in the dispute over the tech giant’s access to Western countries. If countries allow Huawei to build the infrastructure required to support those advanced networks, U.S. officials worry, then they won’t be able to protect the data transmitted over those networks from being hacked by China.
“We are willing to sign no-spy agreements with countries,” Huawei Chairman Liang Hua told reporters this week. “But since the U.S. has not bought from us, is not buying from us, and might not buy from us in the future, I don’t know if there is such an opportunity to sign such an agreement.”
