Image by 徐 志友 from Pixabay

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China has publicly condemned the United States' move to bar Chinese telecommunications provider China Telecom from serving the US market. China's Foreign Ministry also called on the US to stop its unreasonable action of preventing Chinese companies from doing business in the country.

The reaction comes after the news was made public that several US government departments had jointly called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke the operating license of China Telecom to prevent it from doing business in the US.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, mentioned during a news briefing on Friday that the US needs to stop using the concept of national security to bully and suppress Chinese companies. He added that the US government should abide by global market rules and end its politicizing of economic issues.

The ministry is urging the US to provide a level playing field for companies from China and other countries so that they can invest and fairly compete with US firms. China is pushing for further international economic cooperation and abides by market rules but the US' actions have made it challenging for Chinese firms to follow its mandate.

In response to the US' accusations against China Telecom, the ministry stated that it has always required Chinese firms to abide by international market rules and to follow the local laws and regulations of where they are operating. China Telecom has yet to release a formal response to the US' accusations and to its threat of revoking its operating license.

The intention expressed by the US in revoking China Telecom's license is the country's latest move to restrict Chinese companies from offering services in the country. Back in May of last year, the FCC had decided to deny the issuance of an operating license to another state-owned telecom firm. The decision barred China Mobile from offering its services in the United States.

During the same time, the US had also added Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies to its trade blacklist; effectively banning the company from doing business with US firms. Since then, several US departments have attempted to ban the company from selling its 5G services and equipment to US carriers and operators, alleging that Huawei's products presented a national security risk.

China has repeatedly denied the US' accusations against it and the Chinese firms, adding that the US is openly abusing its national security accusations in an attempt to undermine the rise of Chinese firms. The country also claims that the US is intentionally mixing business with politics, which is a clear violation of the legitimate rights and interests of the companies involved.

Tagschina, blame, US, Ban, china telecom