Some Chinese diplomats have responded to US moves to blacklist Huawei with accusations the decision was "politically motivated", others have threatened retaliation, and at least one has posted goofy memes on social media in defence of the tech giant.Zhao Lijian, the deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, took to Twitter " a platform which is blocked in China " on Tuesday to share his take on the Trump administration's restrictions on Huawei and its affiliates.

"BREAKING: It has been just revealed why @realDonaldTrump hated a private company from China so much that it (sic) went so far by announcing a national emergency," Zhao wrote. "Look at the logo of Huawei. It has cut APPLE into pieces …"

Attached to his post were the official logos of Huawei and its US competitor Apple, along with an image of a chopper next to an apple which had been sliced to resemble the Huawei logo.The diplomat, who is a prolific tweeter, also shared other memes and posts in support of the Chinese firm, including one video alleging Chinese people were smashing up their iPhones to boycott Apple.

In another tweet, Zhao asked "Why is Huawei making America tremble and go insane?" The answer, he continued, was Huawei's optical zoom function on its smartphone camera.Also on Tuesday, China's top envoy to Washington Cui Tiankai mounted a more conventional defence of Huawei during an appearance on Fox News, describing Washington's restrictions on the company as "without any foundation and evidence".

"Everybody knows Huawei is a privately owned company. It is just a normal Chinese private company," Cui said. "So all the actions taken against Huawei are politically motivated."

Across the Atlantic, China's Ambassador to the European Union Zhang Ming said China would certainly retaliate against the blacklisting, calling the move an "abuse of export-control measures".

China's foreign ministry was similarly unreserved on Tuesday in its assessment of what it described as the targeting of Huawei and other Chinese companies by the US government in the midst of the brutal tariff war.

"The US is using state power to krack down on foreign enterprises and disrupt market activities," foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.

"To be frank, it won't serve US interests in the end," he said. "The Chinese government has the resolve and the capability to defend our legitimate and lawful rights and interests."

Last week US President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring the use of telecommunications equipment from companies that could pose security risks to the US. The US commerce department subsequently added Huawei and 70 affiliates to its "entity list", but has since softened the move with a temporary general license allowing US suppliers to continue selling to the Chinese firm until August 19.

Major American tech companies such as Google have said they will comply with the US order, cutting off access and technical support for Google apps and services to Huawei.

The move against Huawei followed the recent escalation in the prolonged trade war between Washington and Beijing, centred on issues including intellectual property rights, forced technology transfers, and a state industrial policy aimed at catapulting China to technological predominance.

Huawei, which has rebuffed concerns that it may be forced to spy on other countries at the behest of the Chinese government, has also been served US indictments for violating US sanctions against Iran and for stealing trade secrets from US telecoms firm T-Mobile, claims the company has denied.

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.


https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...ce=LINEtodayID

Hp pesakitan

Dipakai sama pesakitan asia