BEIJING • The United States is trying to stifle Chinese technology company Huawei and curb its global expansion with the arrest of a top executive, Chinese state media has said.
Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the 46-year-old daughter of the company's founder, was detained in Canada last Saturday, the same day United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dined together at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.
The official China Daily said yesterday in an editorial there was still "no telling" on what grounds she had been detained, and that it seemed to be part of US plans to pressure its allies not to use Huawei goods.
"But one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies," it said.
"What is badly needed for the development of China-US ties is political trust. Yet Washington, in persuading and pressuring its allies to shun cooperation with Huawei, has helped erode that political trust," the English-language paper said.
Influential tabloid the Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, said that the US was "resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market".
The US was abusing "legal procedure to stifle Huawei", it said. "Despite incomplete information about the incident, the US move obviously goes against the consensus reached between the heads of state of China and the US in Argentina."
"The incident shows that China faces a complicated competition with the US. Beijing needs determination and wisdom to safeguard its own interests," it added.
The Huawei executive's arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of Iran sanctions.
Earlier this year, another Chinese technology firm ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US firms from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years. The ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a US$1 billion (S$1.37 billion) fine.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
