US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Turkey over China-based firms. Noticing the growing influence and investments of Chinese technology firms in Turkey, Pompeo said this could jeopardize military business between the White House and Ankara.
Donald Trump's government has warned NATO allies that technology firms, which China claims are linked to intelligence agencies, could force American troops to withdraw from espionage operations.
Pompeo's warning about telecommunications companies came after Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the European Foreign Relations subcommittee said, “Our presence in Turkey is absolutely under threat.”
According to a report published in Foreign Policy magazine, China invested $3 billion in Turkey between 2016 and 2019 and plans to double it by the end of next year.
According to the Japanese Nikkei Asian Review, China enlists private sector in cutting-edge weapons development. The review claims; “Three-quarters of companies recently blacklisted by the U.S. over Chinese military activities have dealings with the People's Liberation Army, Nikkei research shows, a sign of the PLA's growing reliance on the private sector under President Xi Jinping's push for “military-civil fusion.”
The US Commerce Department blacklisted in late August, 24 Chinese companies, saying that they are helping the ruling Chinese Communist Party construct artificial islands in the South China Sea, which the U.S. sees as a military provocation.
