High level US officials agreed to meet later this month to discuss further restrictions on tech exports to China and the telecoms company Huawei.
Media report that the meeting scheduled for 28 February will seek to resolve differences within the US government over a possible crackdown on China and Huawei.
The meeting will reportedly involve high-level officials, including Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo. They are expected to discuss further curbing technology exports to China and Huawei,
The announcement comes after the US Commerce Department withdrew a rule that would have placed additional trade restrictions on Huawei, amid opposition from the US Department of Defence and the US Treasury.
In his annual State of the Nation address on Tuesday, US president Donald Trump said that the recently signed Phase One trade deal with China had succeeded in confronting China’s “massive theft of American jobs”.
In May, the US government added Huawei to its trade blacklist, amid concerns that its 5G equipment enables the Chinese government to spy on other nations. Huawei has rejected the allegations, saying it operates independently of the ruling party of China.
However, in December, two US senators, both Republican and a Democrat, warned that private Chinese companies are required to adhere to Chinese law: “Security experts have voiced concerns that China’s vague patchwork of intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party”, the senators said.
