Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying Photo: fmprc.gov.cn

China is seriously concerned about UK government's latest decision to remove Huawei gear from its 5G network rollout by 2027, and will "comprehensively assess" the decision by London, and take "necessary measures" to protect legitimate interests of Chinese companies, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"China strongly opposes" UK's decision, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular press conference.

The UK government used "fabricated risks" as an excuse to cooperate with the Trump administration in discriminating against and excluding Chinese firms, blatantly violating market economy principles and free trade rules, Hua said.

The spokeswoman said that the UK decision not only breached relevant commitments made by London, but also severely impacted the foundation of mutual trust in future China-UK cooperation.

Hua said that the UK's decision on removing Huawei's 5G equipment is not an issue of one single company or industry, but it was a highly politicized decision by London, regardless of cost. 

She added that the UK decision is an issue that seriously threatens the security of Chinese investments in the UK, and will impact China's confidence in the UK market.

On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Huawei's 5G equipment to be completely removed from the UK's 5G network by the end of 2027, which is considered as a major reversal of position by UK in January this year, when Huawei was permitted to build non-core portions of the country's 5G networks. 

Immediately following the announcement by London on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump told the press that he successfully persuaded the UK government to shun Huawei.

"We convinced many countries, many countries, I did this myself for the most part, not to use Huawei, because we think it is an unsafe security risk, it's a big security risk," Trump said.

"That further proves some countries' restricting Huawei are, as a matter of fact, highly politicized maneuvers that have nothing to do with their national security," Hua said. "It also shows the world that it is the US rather than China that has been intimidating, threatening, provoking and bluffing others."