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Headline News 15/07/2020
Headlines:
US Rejects China’s Territorial Claims
UK Bans Huawei from its 5G
Details:
US Rejects China’s Territorial Claims
The US officially rejected nearly all of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea on Monday 13 July in a major escalation that is sure to enrage Beijing and inflame the region. “We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on the matter. Pompeo went on to list specific claims the US is rejecting in waters close to the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Indonesia. Pompeo argues China’s claims are “unlawful” and cited a 2016 ruling made by an international tribunal in The Hague that took the Philippines’ side in a territorial dispute with Beijing. The smaller countries in the region all have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, and the US has not taken the side of a particular nation, as Washington’s aim is solely to counter China. Pompeo went further in his twitter feed: “We are strengthening US policy on South China Sea maritime claims, according to international law, in rejection of Beijing’s intimidation, bullying, and claims of maritime empire.” The US had made clear for some time that it doesn’t accept any claims on any region, even those native to any region. The ball in in in China’s court to prove otherwise.
UK Bans Huawei from its 5G
British telecoms companies will be banned from buying Huawei 5G components starting from the end of this year, the UK Media Secretary said. The firms also must get rid of all of their Huawei gear by 2027. Media Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the National Cyber Security Centre informed the ministers that they have “significantly changed their assessment of Huawei’s presence in the UK’s 5G network.” Speaking in parliament, Dowden argued that relying on a Chinese company to provide sensitive technology to the UK opened the country to great security risks. “This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run.” This is a complete reversal of UK policy after it refused US demands to block the Chinese company building Europe’s 5G network. With the UK economy shrinking over 20% and Brexit looking precarious a trade deal with the US becomes even more essential and this seems to have changed the position of British politicians to secure a trade deal with the US.