Exclusive | Steve Bannon says killing Huawei more important than trade deal with China
- Driving the telecommunications giant out of Western markets is ‘10 times more important’ than a trade deal
- Trump’s former strategist says he won’t stop there, with plans to exclude all Chinese companies from capital markets
Driving Huawei out of the United States and Europe is “10 times more important” than a trade deal with China, according to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
He also said he would dedicate all his time to shutting Chinese companies out of US capital markets.
The remark by Bannon, a strong advocate of an “all-encompassing war” against China, came days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning Huawei from the US market and cutting off its vital components supply.
“It is a massive national security issue to the West,” Bannon said, in a phone interview on Saturday with the South China Morning Post. “The executive order is 10 times more important than walking away from the trade deal. It [Huawei] is a major national security threat, not just to the US but to the rest of the world. We are going to shut it down”.
Bannon did not elaborate on the supposed specific security risks of Huawei’s products. The Chinese tech company has openly challenged the US claim and some major Western countries, such as Germany, have also said they have seen no hard evidence so far to back up US allegations.