China Blasts EU Plan to Ban ‘High-Risk’ Telecom Vendors
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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.
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- The EU proposed a directive to ban “high-risk” vendors, widely seen as targeting Chinese firms like Huawei, from supplying critical ICT infrastructure, requiring removal of existing equipment within three years.
- China and Huawei criticized the proposal as politically motivated and protectionist, arguing it violates international law and lacks technical basis.
- The EU defends the plan as necessary for cybersecurity, projecting up to €14.6 billion in company savings over five years and stronger incident detection.
- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Shenzhen-based telecom giant, is a major target of the EU's proposed directive banning "high-risk" vendors from public procurement. Huawei objected to the plan, stating it lacks technical basis and violates EU and WTO laws. The company called itself a legal operator in Europe, offering secure products, and will monitor the legislative process to defend its interests.
- Bouygues Telecom
- Bouygues Telecom is a French telecommunications operator. Along with SFR, it challenged a 2019 French law designed to remove Chinese 5G equipment, due to the high replacement costs and the government's refusal to reimburse them. Despite their challenge, France's Constitutional Council upheld the measure on national security grounds in 2021. The article indicates that the deadline for removing this equipment has been pushed back from 2028 to 2031.
- SFR
- SFR is a French telecom operator that, along with Bouygues Telecom, challenged a French law targeting Chinese 5G equipment. They opposed the law after the government refused to cover the costs of replacing the equipment.
- 2019：
- The push to eliminate Chinese telecom gear from European networks gained momentum under pressure from Washington.
- 2019：
- France passed a law targeting Chinese 5G equipment.
- 2021：
- France’s Constitutional Council upheld the law targeting Chinese 5G equipment on national security grounds.
- January 20, 2026：
- The EU released a proposal under the Cybersecurity Act to ban 'high-risk' vendors from public procurement and require telecom networks to remove related equipment within three years.
- January 20, 2026：
- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Huawei publicly criticized the EU's draft directive.
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