Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the crisis surrounding China's tech giant Huawei is the beginning of a new tech-war.
Putin is currently addressing the plenary session of the 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), according to Sputnik news.
SPIEF is an annual Russian business forum held in St. Petersburg since 1997. The event is taking place on 6–8 June at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Earlier on Thursday, a senior executive for Chinese technology giant Huawei said that he hopes the company’s animosity with the United States will be resolved and warned that the U.S. would be shooting itself in the foot if it were to shun Chinese technology.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions against the world’s No. 1 network equipment provider and second-largest smartphone maker, arguing that it is legally beholden to the Chinese government, which could use the company’s products for cyberespionage. Huawei denies these accusations.
Some cybersecurity experts say that Washington, by going as far as warning other countries against working with Huawei actions, will only further encourage China to become more technically self-reliant and will be dividing the world into two tech camps.
Technical ties between China and Russia, for one, are expanding. Russia’s major mobile operator MTS and Huawei on Wednesday announced a deal to jointly develop 5G networks in Russia. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony at the Kremlin.
