Foreign ministry slams telecom probe

China’s foreign ministry called on the US not to politicize economic and trade cooperation after the US government announced a probe into Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE due to concerns over a possible national security threat caused by their market expansion in the country.

In a news release issued Friday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Weimin said, "It is beneficial for both Chinese companies and the US government in terms of strengthening economic and trade cooperation, which is also good for creating more jobs for Americans."

The probe, which was launched by the House Intelligence Committee, aims to investigate whether the rapid expansion of foreign telecommunications firms poses a potential national security threat to the country. Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. were included in the list, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday.

"The probe will focus on whether the companies’ presence provides ‘the Chinese government an opportunity for greater foreign espionage’ and imperils the US telecommunications infrastructure," Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a news release Thursday in Washington.

The probe will examine how Chinese firms are supplying components of US telecommunications systems and the security threats that activity may pose. The committee has already taken an initial look at the issue, including briefings and interviews with intelligence officials, according to the WSJ.

"Huawei welcomes ‘an open and fair investigation’," William Plummer, a Washington-based spokesman of Huawei said Thursday.

Plummer stressed the company’s equipment was used by 90 percent of the top 50 telecommunications service providers globally and that there had been "zero security incidents".