Pompeo hints at Huawei ultimatum to countries buying equipment

Huawei Technologies Co. signal-transmission equipment stands on a building rooftop in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei, China's largest technology company, alleging it stole trade secrets from an American rival and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran. Huawei has denied committing the alleged charges. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo came close to issuing an us-or-them ultimatum to nations buying from Huawei Technology Co, saying in Hungary that contracts with the Chinese networking giant could limit the availability of US equipment.

“If that equipment is co-located where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them,” Pompeo told reporters in Budapest, when asked what message he would send about Huawei.