TECH

Trump plays hard against China's communist government's hidden espionage

The US administration has banned government agencies from buying equipment from China's Huawei, implementing a congressional measure that considers Chinese companies a security threat in the face of growing tensions between the two countries.
In addition to Huawei, the measure covers another telecommunications company, ZTE, surveillance camera makers Hikvision and Dahua, and the Hytera group, which produces two-way radios.
On Wednesday, Huawei said the measure "is not unexpected," but called it a "trade barrier based on a country of origin, which takes punitive action without any evidence of error."
The move reflects Washington's growing concern over Chinese technology penetration in the face of the potential to serve Beijing's spy services.
Washington has been pushing several countries, including Portugal, to exclude Huawei in building fifth-generation (5G) mobile network infrastructure, accusing the company of being liable to cooperate with Chinese espionage.
Last May, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to compel US companies licensed to sell Huawei critical technology in a blow that could prove fatal to the group.
Having agreed with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a period of truce in the trade war that triggered last summer, Trump said he had agreed to ease some restrictions on Huawei. But the truce was short.
After US Treasury Secretary and Trade Representative Steven Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer returned from negotiations with the Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He, Trump announced new customs duties on imported goods from China. China, effectively ending the truce.
However, Beijing has ordered Chinese companies to stop buying US agricultural products.
The rule prohibiting Huawei from signing contracts with the US Government takes effect on August 13.

Lusa/mundophone