The row between the U.S. and Chinese tech giant Huawei continues as the latter called Trump’s hypocrisy, following a call that Washington made to the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Richard Grenell, U.S. ambassador to Germany stated that he received a phone call from the President to “make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor” would potentially hinder intelligence sharing agreements. 

Huawei was accused of being a threat to national security and having access to the nation’s secrets.

Trump’s administration claimed that Huawei’s equipment could be used to spy on the U.S. 

Washington has repeatedly told other countries that the use of Huawei equipment could risk the trade relationship that the two nations have. The UK has, however, given Huawei limited access to its 5G networks. 

Soon after Grenell’s tweet, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted, “Who he [Grenel]) is threatening? Who’s the real threat? Remember, Snowden said US spied on Chancellor Merkel’s phone!”

Chunying refers to the October 2013 claim that the U.S. had tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone. The accusation was published by German publication Der Spiegel after the release of U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) documents. 

Washington denied the accusation and stating that it “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the German Chancellor’s phone. 

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