Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday harshly criticized a newly passed US telecommunications act that targets foreign telecom equipment suppliers, saying the move is a typical "hegemonic rule" that could be used to bully even its close allies like the UK. 

The US House of Representatives passed the so-called Countering Untrusted Telecommunications Abroad Act on Tuesday. The Act mandates that Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE and any subsidiary or affiliate of either such entity should not serve as a vendor of telecommunications equipment or services given the close ties to, and control over, such entities by China.

The act requires the US Department of State to report the use of "unreliable" telecommunications equipment by US embassies and US allies, and requires issuers of certain securities to disclose their use of such equipment linked to the Chinese and Russian governments.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, slammed the move at a regular briefing on Thursday, saying that this is a typical "hegemonic rule." 

He said that the US intends to turn coercion and bullying tactics into "rules" by means of "legislation," which just shows that the so-called rules-based order that US politicians talk about every day is solely for the hegemonic interests of the US, and even close allies like the UK are subject to coercion and bullying.

Zhao also noted the recent revelation by a British intelligence official, who disclosed how the US government in 2019 forced UK to ban Huawei, with a US official shouting at British officials for five hours.

According to The Times, a White House delegation arrived in London in May 2019 on a policy-disruption mission. Their brief was to oppose a British plan that would allow Huawei limited access to help build the country's next-generation 5G cellular data network. 

Within minutes of the US delegation's arrival at the UK Cabinet Office, British intelligence officials were effectively yelled at by one of their guests - Matthew Pottinger, a former US Marines intelligence officer - for five hours.

"The destruction of world peace and international cooperation by a US set of hegemonic rules is obvious. However, the US apparently does not care," said Zhao. 

China urges the US side to immediately correct its mistake, stop smearing and suppressing Chinese companies, and delete the negative China-related content in the bill. The Chinese government will continue to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, Zhao said.

Global Times