China accuses US of 'economic bullying' over equipment ban

BEIJING (AP) — China is accusing the U.S. of "economic bullying behavior" after U.S. regulators cited security threats in proposing to cut off funding for Chinese equipment in U.S. telecommunications networks.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Tuesday said China would "resolutely oppose the U.S. abusing state power to suppress specific Chinese enterprises with unwarranted charges in the absence of any evidence."

Geng told reporters that, "The economic bullying behavior of the US is a denial of the market economy principle that the U.S. has always advertised."

The Federal Communications Commission votes next month whether to bar telecom companies from using government subsidies to pay for networking equipment from Huawei and ZTE.

The move mostly affects small, rural companies, since larger U.S. wireless companies do not use equipment from the two Chinese firms.