The logo of China's tech giant Huawei. Photo: Xinhua

While Germany postpones its Huawei decision until 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel firmly spoke out against exclusion of any single company from 5G roll-out, and said she has been unaware of political pressures from Beijing over the matter. 

However, the decision has not been made due to opposition voices from different parties.

If German politicians insist on turning a technical question into a political leverage, why does not China respond to it in the same way?

Merkel's latest statement sent a clear message: she won't yield to the mounting pressure amid political uncertainties after a new leftwing leadership was elected to lead her junior coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD), putting the future of Merkel's government in doubt. SPD has been eyeing a Huawei ban, which is set to create fault in the German coalition as Merkel has been taking a practical approach over Huawei matters over the past year, snubbing calls from the US to bar it for unfounded reasons. 

Why? Because Merkel, deemed as Europe's Iron Lady, has always come up with practical solutions in dealing with foreign relations, and she understands how important China-Germany ties are, which could be easily damaged if Germany suppresses Huawei like a political pawn.  

Debate over Huawei is not about a security matter concerning the next generation of wireless technologies anymore. It's all about politics. 

When US officials lobbied around in Europe, urging EU countries to drop Huawei as it has co-called backdoors in its equipment, which could leak information and data to the Chinese government, they never provided any concrete evidence to show significant defaults existing in Huawei's equipment. To address security concerns, Huawei has opened a cyber security evaluation center in Bonn and in Brussels, inviting third-party institutions to conduct tests and no single case about network backdoor or leaked data has been reported, according to open record files. 

When major telecoms carriers in Germany warned that barring Huawei from local market would cause delay in 5G roll-out, some politicians blatantly ignored the facts from the technological perspective, insisting that suppliers from countries where "state influence without constitutional supervision, manipulation or espionage cannot be ruled out are categorically excluded from the network." We have every reason to believe these German officials see China in a hostile way.

The other day, local media in Germany reported that the Chinese ambassador to Berlin vowed retaliation if Berlin decides to ban Huawei, saying that the Chinese government will not stand idly by. Some critics made these comments a very big deal by saying that China is likely to cross the line. When Western politicians constantly smear a Chinese company and attack the Chinese political system, why cannot China react in the same way by taking political measures to defend the interests of its company? 

When the business environment becomes politicized, it would lose appeal, as it is not market-driven anymore, which would eventually hurt the environment that enriches industry development. 

If Berlin takes further moves to bar Huawei for political purposes, it's believed that Beijing would take countermeasures to curb German companies in China. Would that be the price that the German government is willing to pay? Especially when China has become Germany's top trading partner and one of the most favorite investment destinations of German firms.