RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Foreign Office described the content of a letter from the Chinese regime’s embassy published on Twitter as “offensive” and “disrespectful”, in which it repudiated the fact that the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, accused the Asian giant of cyber espionage for its attempts to impose Huawei in building its 5G networks in Latin America.
“They invade and violate the private information of citizens and companies”, denounced the legislator. Immediately, Beijing ordered its ambassador to condemn the Brazilian president’s son.
“The offensive and disrespectful tone and content of the referred statement is detrimental to China’s image before Brazilian public opinion,” said Foreign Minister Ernesto Aráujo in a diplomatic message sent to the embassy, extracts of which were published on Twitter on Thursday by the deputy.
“The handling of issues of common interest by diplomatic officials” from China in Brazil “through social media is not constructive, creates unnecessary friction and only serves the interests of those who have no desire to promote good bilateral relations”, the text added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ reaction – formerly leaked by the Brazilian press – occurred after China repudiated the Deputy’s accusations against the Asian giant of promoting cyber espionage through 5G technology, which Brazil plans to tender in the first half of 2021 and which would not consider the proposal of Xi Jinping’s regime through Huawei.
The Deputy stated on Monday in a tweet that the Brazilian government supports the “Clean Network” program – of Donald Trump’s administration – aimed at building “a global partnership for a safe 5G, with no spying from China”. Instead of using formal complaint channels, the Chinese embassy in Brasília chose social media to target the legislator and threaten future relations between the two countries.
Earlier this month, the Bolsonaro government adhered to Trump’s plan to form a global network that excludes any technology that, according to Washington, is manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), among them Huawei’s 5G, although the legislator made no express mention of the telecommunications company.
“Brazil supports the United States’ 5G project and is distancing itself from Chinese technology,” the legislator said on Twitter. In another post, Eduardo Bolsonaro referred to organizations “aggressive and hostile to freedom” and cited the CCP as an example. President Bolsonaro’s son published a joint communiqué issued by the United States and Brazil and expressed his opinion on the matter.
“The program to which Brazil has adhered aims to protect its participants from intrusions and violations of private information from citizens and companies. This occurs in repudiation of organizations that are classified as aggressive and hostile to freedom, such as the Chinese Communist Party.”
The delegation of China, Brazil’s main trading partner, was enraged by the Deputy’s opinions and made a point of attacking him. It considered his words to be “unfounded”, despite reports from various countries that share his concerns.
“Contrary to Brazilian public opinion, Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro and some public officials have issued a string of vile statements that, as well as disrespecting the facts of Sino-Brazilian cooperation and the mutual benefit it provides, undermine the friendly atmosphere between the two countries and damage Brazil’s image. We believe that Brazilian society, in general, does not support or accept this type of position,” noted the communiqué that labeled the legislator’s statements as part of the “American far-right”. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry considered this public statement to be offensive.
And the regime’s threat: “We urge these public officials to stop pursuing the U.S. far-right rhetoric (…) Otherwise, they will bear the negative consequences of bearing the historical responsibility of disturbing the normality of the Sino-Brazilian alliance.”
Source: infobae