UK move bad decision, says China's envoy

China's ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming said it's a "dark day for the United Kingdom" to remove the Chinese technology company Huawei from Britain's 5G infrastructure, which could result in the UK missing the opportunity to lead in the sector.

The British government last week announced that it planned to ban UK mobile providers from purchasing new Huawei 5G equipment after the end of 2020 and asked telecom operators to remove all the Chinese company's 5G kit from their networks by 2027.

Liu said he thought that the UK had made a mistake regarding its decision on Huawei, and that the British government would struggle to achieve its plan to have full 5G coverage by 2025.

Speaking on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Liu said: "This is a very bad decision. This is a dark day for Huawei. It's a dark day for China-UK relations. It's an even darker day for the United Kingdom, because you will miss the opportunity to be a leading country."

While some people warn of the so-called national security risk posed by the Chinese technology giant to the 5G network, Liu said there is no hard, solid evidence to suggest Huawei is a risk to the UK.

"They've been here for 20 years. They have made a huge contribution not only to the telecom industry of this country. They have fulfilled their corporate responsibility. They have helped the UK to develop," Liu said.

The British government pledged to make the UK completely 5G and full-fiber connected by 2025, and Liu said Huawei could be a big help to deliver that, "but now it seems to me the UK just kicked them out and, to use the media words, is purging them under the pressure from the United States."

During the interview, the ambassador echoed a point made by leading British scholar and Sinologist Martin Jacques, author of the book When China Rules the World, and who wrote in a recent tweet "history turns full circle".

"In 1793, Chinese Emperor Qianlong told the British king: 'We don't have the slightest need of your country's manufactures.' So marked the start of China's 150 year decline. In 2020 UK tells China that it has no need of China's latest technology," Jacques tweeted.

Liu said, "So I do not know what will happen in the next 150 years."

When asked whether the Chinese government planned to retaliate against British companies operating in China, Liu said: "We do not want to politicize the economy. That is wrong. It's wrong for the United Kingdom to discriminate against Chinese companies because of pressure from the United States."

Resolute response

The ambassador urged the British government to demonstrate independence in its policies.

"If the UK government goes as far as to impose sanctions on any individual in China, China will certainly give resolute response to it… I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China and the US to happen in China-UK relations. I think the UK should have its own independent foreign policy rather than to dance to the tune of Americans, like what happened to Huawei," Liu said.

Liu refuted the notion that China has become "so aggressive "lately.

"That's totally wrong. China has not changed. It's the Western countries headed by the United States. They started this so-called 'new cold war' on China. They have this sanction. They have this smearing and name-calling."