China rejected Wednesday concerns of a possible spying risk from U.S. lawmakers over a recent deal signed between a South Korean mobile carrier and China's Huawei Technologies Co.
LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's third-largest mobile carrier, signed a deal in October with Huawei that allows the Chinese telecoms equipment maker to build a mobile network in South Korea, were some 28,500 American troops are stationed.
U.S. defense officials and influential lawmakers, including Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and Robert Menendez, raised concerns over the deal between LG and Huawei, suggesting that it could enable Chinese spies to get access to military communications of U.S. troops in South Korea.
"We want to point out that Chinese companies, such as Huawei, carry out international operations in accordance with market rules," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei replied, when asked about the spying concerns.
"We hope that the relevant country should view these business activities of Chinese companies in an objective and rational way, and not politicize economic issues every time," Hong said. (Yonhap News)
