China threatens to ‘handle’ Ericsson if Sweden bans Huawei

China has threatened to retaliate against telecom giant Ericsso if Sweden continues to prevent Huawei from participating in the rollout of 5G networks in the country.

China again threatens to ‘handle’ Ericsson if Sweden bans Huawei. According to the Global Times, affiliated to the People’s Daily of the Communist Party of China, whether Ericsson has a chance to participate in the next round of China’s massive 5G network construction plan has nothing to do with whether whether or not Stockholm will change its stance on Huawei. Previously, in October 2020, the Postal and Telecommunications Administration of Sweden (PTS) announced a ban on the use of equipment from Huawei and ZTE in the development of 5G networks in the country. This ban did not surprise observers because Sweden has repeatedly bluntly called China a threat to national security. According to the Global Times, Huawei has appealed the decision in a Swedish court and a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. In the event that the appeal is unsuccessful, China will close the door to Ericsson from supplying goods to China. Representatives for Ericsson and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Trade declined to comment. Meanwhile, shares of Ericsson fell nearly 4% on May 11. After Swedish regulators banned Huawei in October last year, Chinese officials and state media outlets judged the decision unfair, saying Huawei poses no security risk. and Sweden is trying to protect the domestic telecommunications company Ericsson. They threatened to retaliate against Swedish companies doing business in China, including Ericsson and its largest shareholder, Investor AB, the investment company of the highly influential Wallenberg family in Sweden, which has shares mostly at a few large European companies. Earlier, Chinese media outlets reported that the country’s Ministry of Commerce was said to be considering export control measures to prevent Ericsson from sending products and components made in China abroad. The prospect of retaliation prompted Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm to launch a lobbying campaign on Huawei’s behalf. He criticized Swedish politicians and solicited lawyers to help Huawei fight the Swedish ban. He said Ericsson gets only 1% of its revenue from Sweden while China is Ericsson’s second-biggest market after the US, contributing 8% of the company’s revenue. Currently, Ericsson is providing equipment and terminal services to China’s state-owned carriers including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, serving more than 350 million 5G mobile subscribers in China in total. CEO Ekholm even stated: “If the ban on Huawei remains, Ericsson will leave Sweden.”