"US Secretary of State Pompeo said yesterday that more than 60 countries, including 27 EU countries, and about 130 telecommunications companies have abandoned China's 5G technology," said a reporter at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying responded with challenging whether Pompeo can list all the countries and telecommunications companies he claimed. "As far as I know, the U.S. side has been lobbying countries around the world with carrot and stick to join the so-called ‘network’, and some countries have in fact been included in this ‘network’ under duress," said Ms. Hua.
Ms. Hua noted that facts have proved that Chinese companies have been maintaining a very good record on network security. Huawei, for example, built more than 1,500 networks in more than 170 states/regions around the world over the past 3 decades. There have been no such network security incidents as the "Snowden incident" and "WikiLeaks", no such cyber surveillance programs as "Prism Gate", "Formula Organization" and "Echelon System", and no country has been able to come up with evidence to prove Huawei products have "back doors". Huawei has long publicly expressed its readiness to sign a "no back door" agreement and to set up a cyber security assessment center in any country. Ms. Hua asked, "Which American company can make the same commitment?"
As AFP reported in October, the United States and other "Five Eye" countries have publicly requested that "backdoors" be set up in encryption applications such as Signal and Telegram to provide access to law enforcement agencies. So far, the United States has not given an explanation.
Further to this matter, Ms. Hua hit the nail on the head by using the word "dirty" to describe the so-called "clean network" program concocted by the US side. Its real purpose is to crack down on non-American enterprises that have gained an edge over American ones, and to suppress the legitimate development rights of other countries, so as to safeguard the monopoly, self-interests, and scientific and technological hegemony of the United States. "A bully will not be welcomed wherever he goes, and no purpose will be served by coercion," said Ms. Hua with determination.