China has warned British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, that his decision to ban Huawei from the 5G network would cost Britain dearly in investment.
While disclosing this on Wednesday July 15, 2020, Chinese Ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, said the move followed the politicised pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump who claimed credit for the decision said that if countries wanted to do business with the United States, they should block Huawei.
China, whose $15 trillion economy is five times the size of Britain’s, warned the decision would hurt investment as Chinese companies had watched as London “dumped” the national telecoms champion.
“Now I would even say this is not only disappointing – this is disheartening,” Xiaoming said.
“The way you are treating Huawei is being followed very closely by other Chinese businesses, and it will be very difficult for other businesses to have the confidence to have more investment,” he said.
As Britain prepares to cast off from the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced New York-born Johnson to take sides in the rivalry between the United States and China.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying wondered if the UK wanted to maintain its independent status or be reduced to being a vassal of the United States or the U.S.’s cats paw.
“The safety of Chinese investment in the UK is being greatly threatened,” he said.
Britain has become increasingly reliant on Chinese imports. Some 9% of all goods imported into Britain in 2018 – worth 43 billion pounds ($54 billion) – came from China, double the proportion from 15 years earlier.
