U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a press conference with Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon on Dec. 5, 2019.The United States has spent “the past couple years” working to make sure its partners around the world are aware of the risks of working with companies such as Huawei, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Lisbon on Thursday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Portugal’s foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva, he did not cite Huawei by name, referring instead to what he called “untrusted networks.”U.S. President Donald Trump in May placed Huawei on the country’s trade blacklist, citing national security concerns, and pressured its allies to shut out the company from their networks. Shenzhen-based Huawei has repeatedly denied Washington’s allegations about it.
Chinese firms hold significant investments in key Portuguese sectors. The local unit of telecommunications firm Altice , the country’s largest operator, said last year it was working with Huawei to make Portugal a European leader in the development and roll-out of 5G networks. Santos Silva said Portugal’s tender of public services, including those involving 5G, abide by European rules.
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