The Chinese Embassy in Germany on Thursday voiced strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Germany’s decision to gradually remove Chinese telecom components from its 5G networks.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior announced the decision on Thursday, citing the so-called security risks.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy said such a decision is based on groundless accusations as Chinese companies, including Huawei and ZTE, have long operated in Germany in compliance with laws and regulations, making positive contributions to Germany’s digitization process.

The so-called “network security risks” are just an excuse by certain countries to maintain technological hegemony and suppress competitors, it said, adding that there is no evidence indicating that these Chinese companies are a danger to any country.

Noting that China has always maintained an open attitude towards European companies like Nokia and Ericsson in its own 5G construction, the statement said that Germany’s move would severely damage mutual trust and affect future China-EU cooperation in relevant fields.

“Whether Germany can handle this issue fairly and justly will be a touchstone for its own business environment,” said the statement.

Germany and the European side should not demand fair competitiveness on the one hand, but on the other hand, impose discriminatory policies upon companies from another country based on groundless accusations, it emphasized.

China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, it concluded.