Squeezed by China and US, Germany faces key Huawei decision

Merkel treads tightrope as both Beijing and Washington threaten trade action

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a session of the Bundestag in Berlin in December. She is under pressure from lawmakers in both ruling and opposition parties to ban Huawei from her country's 5G roll-out. © Reuters

JENS KASTNER, Contributing writer

January 4, 2020 18:19 JST

HAMBURG, Germany -- Chancellor Angela Merkel's government faces a critical decision in the new year over what role Chinese tech titan Huawei Technologies should be allowed to play in the rollout of 5G in Europe's largest economy.

Merkel is under pressure from lawmakers in both ruling and opposition parties to ban the controversial Chinese company from the network. But that would risk Chinese retaliation such as a clampdown on German auto exports to a crucial market for the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.