Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Urging the EU to avoid going further down the wrong path of protectionism

BEIJING, January 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies have long operated in Europe in accordance with the law and regulations, and have never endangered European national security. Instead, they have effectively promoted the development of Europe's telecommunications and digital industries, providing high-quality products and services to European people, "said Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China urges the EU to avoid going further down the wrong path of protectionism.

At the regular press conference on the same day, a reporter asked: According to reports, the European Commission proposed a new package of cybersecurity policy proposals on January 20, which aims to promote the mandatory "de risk" of supply chains from high-risk third countries in European mobile communication networks based on the existing 5G network security "toolbox". Some comments suggest that the concept of "high-risk suppliers" has obvious political connotations, aiming to completely exclude Chinese companies from European mobile communication networks on the grounds of security factors. What is China's comment on this?

The Chinese side has taken note of the relevant reports and expresses serious concern about them. Guo Jiakun said that using non-technical standards without any factual evidence to forcibly restrict or even prohibit enterprises from participating in the market seriously violates market principles and fair competition rules. It is a typical manifestation of politicizing normal cooperation and pan securitization, and is blatant protectionism. Disregarding the market and violating economic laws not only fails to achieve so-called 'safety', but also incurs huge costs. The fact has proven that some countries forcibly remove high-quality and secure equipment from Chinese telecommunications companies, causing huge economic losses and seriously hindering the development of the local digital network industry

Guo Jiakun said that the European Commission ignores the basic fact that Chinese companies provide safe and high-quality products, disregards the good cooperation foundation and potential between China and Europe in the field of digital networks, and engages in political manipulation under the pretext of security. This not only seriously hinders the EU's own technological progress and economic development, but also seriously damages the EU's image of market openness and seriously affects the confidence of enterprises from various countries to invest in Europe.