China opposes ‘politicization’ of Huawei issue in India

By Gaurav Sharma

Beijing, June 19 (IANS) China has said it is opposed to the "politicization" of Huawei's likely participation in the 5G network trial in India after New Delhi said it has security concerns in letting the Chinese company take part in the much-awaited exercise.

China's Foreign Ministry told IANS that Beijing expects India to take an "independent" view on Huawei's participation and asked it to be "fair" to the telecom equipment firm.

The world's largest telecom maker is under the spotlight for allegedly spying for the Chinese government and has been banned by the US from buying technology and equipment from American companies.

Earlier this month, India's Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India has its security concerns over allowing Huawei to participate in the 5G network trial for 5G services.

"The Chinese government has never supported any enterprise to engage in any activity that would pose a threat to the legitimate security interests of other countries and opposes the politicization of technical issues by individual countries," the Foreign Ministry told IANS in a statement.

"For some time now, more and more people around the world have shown a fair attitude towards the participation of Chinese technology enterprises in the field of 5G network services.

"We hope and believe that India will make an independent judgment and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for the Chinese enterprises to invest and operate, so as to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results," the Ministry added.

It also said China has always asked its enterprises, including Huawei, to abide by the local laws and regulations of the countries where they are doing business.

India is an important market for Huawei which already has its biggest research and development centre in Bengaluru. The company is keen to provide 5G network services and is hopeful of being allowed to participate in the trial.

However, the controversies surrounding the South China-based company, especially the accusation of espionage for the Chinese government, seem to have worried New Delhi that shares tense relations with Beijing.

Huawei, which is also the world's largest smartphone maker, was founded and is run by Ren Zhengfei who formerly served in China's People's Liberation Army.

The private firm has been accused of sharing foreign data from other countries with the Chinese government, a charge denied by both Beijing and Huawei.

The Shenzhen-based firm is also at the centre of the damaging China-US trade war as American President Donald Trump dialled up the pressure on Huawei.