Angela Merkel has said that her government will not exclude Huawei or any other company from helping to develop 5G in Germany simply because they come from China, in a clear rebuke of Washington’s stance on the issue.
“The government has said our approach is not to simply exclude one company or one actor, but rather we have requirements of the competitors for this 5G technology,” Merkel said at the annual Global Solutions Summit in Berlin on Tuesday.
Ignoring Washington’s warning may result in downgraded intelligence-sharing between the two nations, Grenell’s letter said. Berlin has protested against US objections, noting that Washington has failed to provide any evidence that Chinese products would pose a security threat.
Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lambasted Grenell’s letter as “blatant extortion.”
The Chinese electronics giant has not been sitting quietly as Washington moves to push it out of the international market. Huawei announced in early March that it was filing a lawsuit against the US government over its decision to ban federal agencies from using its products.