China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang has reacted to Huawei CEO Ren Zhenfrei’s recent comments related to Apple Inc. in light of Washington’s previous move to blacklist the Chinese tech giant.
“We have paid attention to these messages. A few days ago I said that it doesn’t matter if we are talking about individuals or separate companies”, Lu told a Tuesday news briefing, adding that each and every person perceives this “great world” depending on “how great his heart is”.
The statement comes after the Huawei chief executive told Bloomberg that he would be against Beijing’s possible move to ban the US’ Apple Corporation from the Chinese market in a tit-for-tat move.
“That will not happen, first of all. And second of all, if that happens, I’ll be the first to protest. Apple is my teacher, it’s in the lead. As a student, why go against my teacher? Never”, he underscored.
His remarks followed reports that China's Cyberspace Administration hammered out a spate of cybersecurity measures which, if signed into law, would require operators of China's critical information infrastructure to “evaluate national security risk” when acquiring foreign products and services.
This was preceded by the US Department of Commerce blacklisting Huawei Technologies and around 70 of its affiliates, in a move that prompted several US corporations, such as Google and Microsoft as well as major semiconductor makers, including Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom, to follow suit and sever ties with Huawei.
The Chinese tech giant has repeatedly rejected US intelligence agencies’ accusations that it allegedly installs “backdoor” access in its devices at the behest of the Chinese government in order to help Beijing spy on the users of its gadgets.