Putin: Trump's Huawei Crackdown Signals The 'First Technological War’
Russian leader speaks at Petersburg International Economic Forum
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said President Donald Trump is waging a “technological war” against China with his crackdown on telecom firms deemed “national security risk" like Huawei.
"The situation around Huawei, for example, which is not only being sidelined but blatantly squeezed out of the global market,” Putin said.
"That is already dubbed in certain circles as the first technological war of the upcoming digital era.”
U.S. officials have lobbied allied countries to refrain from using Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications giants because of security risks due to the influence that Beijing’s spy services exert over the high-tech companies.
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Putin's defence was back with a new agreement between Huawei and Russia’s largest telecommunications company to develop 5G.
“States which previously promoted free trade with honest and open competition have started speaking the language of trade wars and sanctions, of open economic raiding using arm-twisting and scare tactics, of eliminating competitors using so-called nonmarket methods,” Putin said.
“It’s a path to endless conflicts, trade wars, and maybe not just trade wars.”
According to the Washington Examiner:
Huawei’s status as a pioneer of 5G is a crucial factor in the dispute over the tech giant’s access to Western countries.
China is Demanding Global Control Over Artificial Intelligence
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) June 1, 2019
READ MORE: https://t.co/cmP7uDStgu
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If countries allow Huawei to build the infrastructure required to support those advanced networks, U.S. officials worry, then they won’t be able to protect the data transmitted over those networks from being hacked by China.
"We are willing to sign no-spy agreements with countries,” Huawei Chairman Liang Hua told reporters this week.
"But since the U.S. has not bought from us, is not buying from us, and might not buy from us in the future, I don't know if there is such an opportunity to sign such an agreement."
Trump recently warned the UK they risk being kicked out of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network if they allow Chinese firm to build any part of their 5G network.
The US insisted the Huawei products are going to be used a backdoor to spy on behalf of the Chinese government.
In March, Trump warned that search giant Google was helping the Chinese military as the US tech firm continues to work on business projects in China.
