China Blasts EU Plan to Ban ‘High-Risk’ Telecom Vendors

China has strongly criticized a sweeping new European Union proposal that would ban “high-risk” vendors from public procurement and require telecom networks to remove their equipment within three years, calling it a move driven by politics, not facts.

On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the EU’s draft directive as “naked protectionism.” Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the proposed rules use non-technical standards to unfairly restrict access to the European market, politicizing normal economic cooperation. Guo warned that the measure would raise costs without improving security, citing past disruptions from removing Chinese equipment. Beijing, he said, would take “necessary measures” to defend its firms’ legitimate rights.