Poland “must pay” for arresting an employee of Chinese telecom giant Huawei for alleged espionage, state-run tabloid Global Times said on Monday.
Last week’s detention of Wang Weijing follows the December arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada, and US efforts to blacklist the company internationally over security concerns.
“Beijing should resolutely negotiate with Warsaw and conduct relative counter-measures, helping the world understand that Poland is an accomplice of the US,” the nationalist Global Times said in a strongly worded editorial.
If Huawei suffers a blow, it will affect the confidence of “Chinese society” and the world would think it “doable to bully Chinese enterprises,” said the newspaper, which is run by Communist party mouthpiece People’s Daily.
“China must not be soft at this point. Beijing will not bully Warsaw — and it is unworthy to do so — but the latter must pay for the offense,” the editorial said.
The newspaper did not say what kind of measures China should take.
Arrest of a #Huawei employee by #Poland suggests the move was politically motivated and pandering to US pressure on Huawei: @HuXijin_GT #VideoFromChina pic.twitter.com/aPTyBokn1c
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 13, 2019
Days after Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition request in December, Chinese authorities detained two Canadians — a former diplomat and a businessman — on suspicion of endangering national security, a move seen by observers as an act of retaliation.
Meng is accused of fraud in connection with violations of Iran sanctions.
While China voiced concerns about Wang’s arrest in Poland, Huawei has sought to distance itself from the case as it fired the employee, saying his “alleged actions have no relation to the company.”
A Polish man was also arrested for alleged espionage along with Wang on Tuesday.
Both men are suspected of having “worked for Chinese services and to the detriment of Poland,” said Polish special services spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn.
