Following the news today of the arrest of the Chief Financial Officer of Chinese telecoms company Huawei, Professor Shaun Breslin of the Department of Politics and International Studies has commented on its potential impact on US-China relations.

He said:

“The arrest comes at a time when the US and China are meant to be working together to try and resolve the current trade dispute – I think it’s fair to say that this is not likely to make that already very difficult task any easier. While the specifics of the case refer to breaching sanctions on Iran, there is now a relatively long history of suspicion in the US, Australia and elsewhere over Huawei’s long term goals and possible links to the Chinese security establishment (even though it is a private company and not a Chinese state-owned one). This is clearly going to feed the atmosphere of concern about the long term wisdom of allowing uncontrolled access for Chinese companies in a number of countries; and also Chinese resentment and frustration to this growing concern at the same time.”

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Peter Thorley

Media Relations Manager (Warwick Medical School and Department of Physics)

Email: peter dot thorley at warwick dot ac dot uk

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