The United States and China hardened their stances over Huawei Thursday as Washington brushed aside claims of "bullying" and accused the Chinese tech giant of misrepresenting its ties to the Beijing government.
The world's top two economies stepped up their rhetoric following President Donald Trump's decision to blacklist the smartphone and telecom firm over worries that Beijing uses it as a tool for espionage.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed in an interview that Huawei is not truthful about its relationship with China's government and that this means any data touched by the company is "at risk" of falling into the wrong hands.
"To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo said of Huawei.
The company "is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese communist party," the top US diplomat told CNBC, disputing Huawei's claims that it has no direct relationship with Beijing.
"The Huawei CEO -- on that, at least -- isn't telling the American people the truth." On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that Beijing was ready to "fight to the very end" in its trade war with Washington.
"The US use of state power to arbitrarily exert pressure on a private Chinese company like Huawei is typical economic bullying," Wang said.
China's commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said Beijing has lodged "solemn representations" with Washington, and warned that the country has the "confidence and ability to protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies."
Japan's Panasonic was the latest to announce it would "suspend transactions with Huawei and its 68 affiliates that were banned by the US government," saying the move was conveyed in an "internal notification."
But when asked for a response, Huawei pointed to a statement on Panasonic's Chinese website that said the firm was supplying Huawei "normally."
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