UK, US move on Chinese group ZTE Corp on national security grounds

The UK and the United States have moved against one of China’s largest telecoms, ZTE Corp. The move is part of a growing list of restrictions imposed by western governments on Chinese companies on national security grounds, FT reports.

The measures taken against ZTE Corp include cutting it off from US suppliers and barring it entirely from doing business in the UK. They come on the background of an aggressive move by the Trump administration, which has used its Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to block or force changes to several Chinese-linked deals.

The move is likely to even more economic tension between Washington and Beijing. The two administrations are caught up in a rhetorical trade war that threatens to impose tariffs on USD billion bilateral trade.

As a result, ZTE Corp suspended trading in its shares in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and said it was aware of the US order and that it was “assessing the full range of potential implications”.

The US commerce department said the move was not related to other recent actions taken by the White House, adding that the company’s violations were first investigated by the Obama administration.