A.G. Gancarski
A U.S. Senator from Florida dismissed protests by a Chinese telecom company that they were not simply a front for Beijing.
Sen. Rick Scott, a first-term Republican, jousted with heavyweight Huawei on Twitter Tuesday.
The company responded to a Scott tweet lauding the United Kingdom for shunting Huawei from its 5G development, saying “Huawei completely rejects any unfounded and inaccurate allegations. We appeal for facts, trust and collaboration. Huawei does not work with the Chinese government and never has.”
Scott discounted those claims.
“Huawei doesn’t work for the CCP? Interesting. Let’s take a look at the reports. Due to the espionage and national security laws in place by the Chinese government, Huawei would have no choice but to hand over data from its networks. Sound about right?”
“Not only are they tied by law but the State-owned banks are one of its biggest financial supporters. And going even further, Huawei employees have been linked to Chinese military members that specialized in intelligence gathering,” Scott added.
The decision to restrict the telecom colossus from the United Kingdom’s nascent 5G market was lauded as the “right move.”
“Keeping Huawei out of the UK’s 5G network is vital to ensuring Communist China can’t steal their data and extend their influence across the world,” Scott tweeted Saturday.
The Senator, who recently declared a “new Cold War” with China, was responding to an article in London’s Telegraph, which reported Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he wanted to zero out Huawei by 2023.
Scott has backed up his rhetoric with bills, including February legislation designed to make doing business with the company difficult for American vendors.
The Senator also has sought to block federal funds being used for Huawei equipment.
“Huawei is being used as a tool for Communist China to commit espionage on foreign nations, their own citizens and anyone they see as a threat,” Scott wrote to U.S. Attorney General William Barr in late 2019.
