BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday urged EU countries to speak as one in their dealings with China, warning it would be"disastrous" to go it alone at a time of tensions with the Asian giant over technology and human rights.
Germany has so far defied pressure from the United States to exclude Huawei from taking part in the bidding process for its 5G network, insisting that it would set stringent security conditions. "It is undisputed that we need high security standards for the development of 5G networks," Dr Merkel said.
Just like the bloc has a centralised agency that handles EU-wide approvals for medicines, there could be an EU agency for"5G certification", Dr Merkel said.Turning to the latest revelations of China's mistreatment of Uighurs in detention camps in Xinjiang, Dr Merkel said it was right to criticise the abuses that have come to light.