By JUN MAI
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon said he talks to senior officials in the White House every day about wicked China.
Driving Huawei out of the United States and Europe is “10 times more important” than a trade deal with China, according to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
He also said he would dedicate all his time to shutting Chinese companies out of U.S. capital markets.
The remark by Mr Bannon, a strong advocate of an all-encompassing war against China, came days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning Huawei from the U.S. market and cutting off its vital components supply.
“Huawei is a massive national security issue to the West,” Mr Bannon said, in a phone interview on Saturday with the South China Morning Post.
He also said he would dedicate all his time to shutting Chinese companies out of U.S. capital markets.
The remark by Mr Bannon, a strong advocate of an all-encompassing war against China, came days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning Huawei from the U.S. market and cutting off its vital components supply.
“Huawei is a massive national security issue to the West,” Mr Bannon said, in a phone interview on Saturday with the South China Morning Post.
“The executive order is 10 times more important than walking away from the trade deal. Huawei is a major national security threat, not just to the US but to the rest of the world. We are going to shut it down.”
The U.S. ban on Huawei came as a shock to capital markets and the tech industry.
Jude Blanchette of the Crumpton Group, a business advisory and geopolitical risk firm based in the U.S., said that while there was “a broad consensus” in Washington on the security concerns over Huawei equipment, the president’s executive order had surprised the market.
“We’re entering uncharted territory where actions to defend against security risks cut at complex global supply chains,” Blanchette said.
But Mr Bannon is adamant that Huawei needs to be driven out of Western markets altogether, suggesting Trump made “a mistake” in lifting a similar sanction last July on ZTE — another Chinese telecommunications equipment maker.
The U.S. had imposed the ZTE ban on the grounds that it had broken the American sanctions on Iran. But, at Trump’s urging, the restrictions on ZTE were lifted after the Chinese company agreed to a number of terms and conditions for its future operations.
“During the trade talks’ early stage, Trump gave a waiver for ZTE, which was a mistake,” Mr Bannon said.
Mr Bannon, who was fired by Trump in August 2017, is also calling for shutting Chinese companies out of American capital markets.
“The next move we make is to cut off all the IPOs, unwind all the pension funds and insurance companies in the U.S. that provide capital to the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
“We’ll see a big move on Wall Street to restrict access to capital markets to Chinese companies until [they agree to] this fundamental reform.”
The U.S. ban on Huawei came as a shock to capital markets and the tech industry.
Jude Blanchette of the Crumpton Group, a business advisory and geopolitical risk firm based in the U.S., said that while there was “a broad consensus” in Washington on the security concerns over Huawei equipment, the president’s executive order had surprised the market.
“We’re entering uncharted territory where actions to defend against security risks cut at complex global supply chains,” Blanchette said.
But Mr Bannon is adamant that Huawei needs to be driven out of Western markets altogether, suggesting Trump made “a mistake” in lifting a similar sanction last July on ZTE — another Chinese telecommunications equipment maker.
The U.S. had imposed the ZTE ban on the grounds that it had broken the American sanctions on Iran. But, at Trump’s urging, the restrictions on ZTE were lifted after the Chinese company agreed to a number of terms and conditions for its future operations.
“During the trade talks’ early stage, Trump gave a waiver for ZTE, which was a mistake,” Mr Bannon said.
Mr Bannon, who was fired by Trump in August 2017, is also calling for shutting Chinese companies out of American capital markets.
“The next move we make is to cut off all the IPOs, unwind all the pension funds and insurance companies in the U.S. that provide capital to the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
“We’ll see a big move on Wall Street to restrict access to capital markets to Chinese companies until [they agree to] this fundamental reform.”
In March this year Mr Bannon revived the cold war Committee on the Present Danger specifically to target China.
The CPD was first established in the early 1950s as a bulwark against the influence of communism in the U.S.
The group disbanded after some leading members were drafted into the Dwight Eisenhower administration, but was reformed in 1976 by U.S. patriots to counter the Soviet Union during the cold war.
Without providing further details, Mr Bannon said he “talks to senior officials in the White House every day about China.”
Without providing further details, Mr Bannon said he “talks to senior officials in the White House every day about China.”
When asked if he meets Trump regularly, the right-wing populist said, “No, if I need to talk to him, I go through his lawyers.”
But he cited reports by The New York Times and POLITICO in the past couple of months which said Trump “liked Steve a lot."
“It is pretty well known I was the one who worked closest with President Trump,” Mr Bannon said.
But he cited reports by The New York Times and POLITICO in the past couple of months which said Trump “liked Steve a lot."
“It is pretty well known I was the one who worked closest with President Trump,” Mr Bannon said.
“I’m much farther to the right than President Trump on this [China]. And I pride myself with that. [I’m] the super hawk.”
Mr Bannon said the objective of what he called “an economic war” with China was to force Beijing to carry out fundamental reforms.
“I don’t think it’s going to be resolved quickly. This is the beginning of a very long and tough process,” he said.
“I have dedicated my life to this. This is what I do 24 hours a day. The pressure we are going to keep up will be relentless. We are not going to be quiet.”
Mr Bannon said the objective of what he called “an economic war” with China was to force Beijing to carry out fundamental reforms.
“I don’t think it’s going to be resolved quickly. This is the beginning of a very long and tough process,” he said.
“I have dedicated my life to this. This is what I do 24 hours a day. The pressure we are going to keep up will be relentless. We are not going to be quiet.”
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