Huawei, ZTE risks 'overstated'

A former top US official who served under Bill Clinton has branded last month's House of Representatives Intelligence Committee report, alleging China's Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp posed risks to US national security, as "vastly overwritten and overstated".

Speaking exclusively to China Daily, Mickey Kantor - who served as US trade representative from 1993 to 1996, followed by nearly a year as US secretary of commence - said the report was politically motivated, coming as it did, in election year in the country.

The long-time advocate of open trade said he regrets the anti-China rhetoric that flared up during the presidential campaign.

But he added that now the race to the White House is over, with Clinton's fellow-democrat President Barack Obama winning a second term in office, he expected people, or at least US politicians, to talk more rationally about China-related issues.

Referring to the Intelligence Committee report, which alleged illegal conduct and was vigorously denied by the two Chinese companies, Kantor said: "You've got to remember this is a political year in the United States. Therefore, people believed that if you criticize China, that will help you politically. I'm sorry that's the case."

"I believe the report is vastly overwritten and overstated," he said. "Interestingly enough, the report admits they have no evidence that Huawei and ZTE have done anything."

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