Huawei brands US visa restriction on employees as unfair
Beijing, Jul 16 (efe-epa).- Huawei described visa restrictions imposed against its employees by the United States as “unfair and arbitrary” on Thursday.
The United States announced on Wednesday that the measures would be imposed on workers at Chinese technology companies who provide “material support” to governments that violate human rights.
Huawei criticized the decision on Twitter the following day, saying that it is a “private employee-owned firm” which operates “independent of the Chinese government”.
“We are disappointed by this unfair and arbitrary action to restrict visas of our employees, who work tirelessly to contribute to technological innovation in the US and around the world,” it added.
Washington has accused the Chinese technology company of having links with state surveillance for authorities in the Asian country and considers it a risk to national security.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a press conference on Wednesday that the nation would impose restrictions on employees of Chinese companies “like Huawei that provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses globally”.
He did not specify how many companies will be subjected to this new rule or provide details on how many employees could be affected.
Huawei was founded in 1987 and has 194,000 employees in 170 countries and regions around the world, according to its website.
In a separate statement, Pompeo accused Huawei of being “an arm of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state that censors political dissidents and enables mass internment camps in Xinjiang and the indentured servitude of its population shipped all over China”.
Pompeo also warned international telecommunication companies should “consider themselves on notice: if they are doing business with Huawei, they are doing business with human rights abusers”.
The head of US diplomacy congratulated the United Kingdom for its decision to limit the country’s telecommunications operators from acquiring 5G network technology from Huawei.
After receiving constant pressure from Washington, London announced Tuesday that it is barring companies from acquiring this equipment from 1 January 2021.
China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that the move was “discriminatory” and it would take “necessary measures” to defend the rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the decision by the British government violates the rules of the World Trade Organization, reduces the confidence of Chinese investors in the island country and affects economic and trade cooperation between the two nations. EFE-EPA
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