People visit the exhibition area of Huawei at the 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 27, 2023. The 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicking off Monday in Barcelona saw a strong return of Asian participants, according to the organiser of the city's largest annual event.(Photo: Xinhua)

The US is weighing legislation to obtain more information from its NATO allies on their use of equipment and services provided by Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, in another attempt to push for technology decoupling from China.

The political pressure is unlikely to get an active response or cooperation, however, given some NATO members' high reliance on Chinese products and Europe's rising efforts to achieve strategic autonomy from the US, experts said.

The US House of Representatives said on Tuesday it will vote on a bill that would require the State Department to report on US NATO allies and others using telecom equipment or services in their 5G networks supplied by like Huawei and ZTE, Reuters reported.

The legislation would also require publicly traded companies to disclose whether they have contracted to use Huawei or ZTE equipment or services covered under the bill.

The US government has acted in bad faith, abusing its state power and maliciously attacked Chinese telecom equipment makers without a factual basis, as it has coerced allies not to use Huawei or ZTE equipment in their 5G networks or force them to remove gear from existing networks.

With the new bill, the US wants to make sure that its allies will follow in its steps, especially after countries like France are insisting on Europe's strategic independence from the US, Ma Jihua, a veteran industry observer, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

France, a major European power, pledged to continue treating Chinese companies in a fair and non-discriminatory manner in the digital economy and the 5G sector, in a joint statement following French President Emmanuel Macron's recent visit to China.

"The statement reflects France's different approach toward Huawei from what the US has desired," Ma said.

Some NATO allies are unlikely to cooperate with the US move, with Huawei remaining one of the most important suppliers of the 5G networks in Germany and many other European countries, Ma said.

"NATO allies are not expected to take specific measures against Huawei," Ma said, noting that the crackdown on Huawei is nefarious, and any switch to alternative equipment would significantly drive up costs.

The Chinese Embassy in Germany on March 7 said that data from the European side showed that Huawei accounted for nearly 60 percent of the equipment used in Germany's 5G networks, making positive contributions to the country's telecom infrastructure.