Trump threatens intelligence block over Huawei: US diplomat
The United States' ambassador to Germany said Sunday that President Donald Trump had threatened to take off intelligence-sharing with countries that handled Chinese tech firm Huawei.
Washington has been pressing allies to ban Huawei, among the world's largest tech firms, from next-generation 5G mobile data networks, saying this is a security risk.
Ambassador Richard Grenell said Trump "instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share intelligence and information at the best level."
Grenell said on Twitter that the president had called him on Sunday from Air Force One, the presidential plane, to mention the message.
Key US allies in Europe, notably Britain and France, have said they'll not ban Huawei from building 5G networks but will impose restrictions.
Publicly, the united states has been restrained in its response, but Trump was reportedly furious with London.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Huawei was a "Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence."
The tech company vehemently denies the united states allegations, and Beijing has characterized its treatment as "economic bullying."
A US indictment on Friday laid more criminal charges against Huawei related to theft of intellectual property, adding to earlier allegations that the business stole trade secrets from American carrier T-Mobile.
