In a surprise policy reversal, Donald Trump said on Sunday he had instructed his commerce department to help get a Chinese telecommunications company “back into business”, after his government cut off access to its US suppliers.
The US commerce department last month blocked ZTE, a major supplier of telecoms networks and smartphones based in Shenzhen in southern China, from importing American components for seven years. The US accused ZTE of misleading US regulators after it settled charges of violating sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
The US discovered that ZTE, which had paid a $1.2bn fine, had failed to discipline employees involved and paid them bonuses instead.
During recent trade meetings in Beijing, Chinese officials said they raised objections over ZTE’s punishment with the US delegation, which they said agreed to report them to Trump.
Trump’s move on Sunday to reverse the ban was a major concession to Beijing ahead of high-stakes trade talks in Washington this week. US officials are preparing to meet with China’s top trade official, Liu He, to resolve an escalating dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
One Democratic lawmaker said Trump’s move jeopardised US national security.
“Our intelligence agencies have warned that ZTE technology and phones pose a major cyber security threat,” Adam Schiff, senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, wrote on Twitter. “You should care more about our national security than Chinese jobs.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
