The White House has accused telecom giants Huawei and ZTE of complicity with “concentration camps” in China, where it claims more than three million Muslims are imprisoned.
The Trump administration is a strident critic of Beijing’s mass detention of Muslim Uighur minority and other Muslim groups, frequently describing the detention facilities in terms normally associated with Nazi Germany.
The latest condemnation, made during a call in which senior administration officials briefed reporters, coincided with China’s celebrations marking 70 years of communist rule.
Sauli Niinistö, president of Finland, is due to meet President Trump at the White House Wednesday. A senior administration official said the two “Arctic nations” would discuss China’s growing ambitions in the region and ways to improve 5G alternatives to those offered by companies such Huawei.
“Finland is home to Nokia, which has quickly developed 5G technology that is at least on par with that of Huawei and ZTE, and presents one of the viable alternatives for those countries that cherish privacy of their citizens’ data, of the integrity of their networks, the security of their critical infrastructure, and knowing that they’re not doing business with companies such as Huawei and ZTE that are involved in the modern-day concentration camps of over 3 million Muslims,” said one of the officials
Washington is spearheading a campaign to persuade international allies to exclude Huawei from next-generation 5G networks. Senior intelligence officials have long warned that the company, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, represents a security risk. ZTE is a Chinese telecommunications equipment company.
Human rights groups accuse Beijing of detaining more than a million members of the Uighur minority in “reeducation” camps, mostly in Xinjiang province. Authorities claim the detentions are essential for halting the spread of religious extremism and terrorism, but critics say the detainees’ only crime is being Muslim.
Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, recently described the crackdown as the “stain of the century.”
