China has deployed an unlikely voice in its trade war with the U.S.: Trevor Noah of Comedy Central's The Daily Show.
A brief clip from the comedian's "If You Don't Know, Now You Know" segment on Chinese equipment maker Huawei's dominance in next-generation 5G mobile technology ran on state broadcaster CCTV's national lunchtime news on Monday.
It was part of a barrage of stories and commentaries attacking the U.S. stance in the standoff between the world's two largest economies.
Washington says Huawei, the leading supplier of telecom gear and No. 2 smartphone maker, is a security threat and is obliged to do the ruling Communist Party's bidding. U.S. officials have provided no evidence for their assertions that the company, based in southern China's Shenzhen, may use its equipment for espionage.
CCTV ran a Daily Show clip that highlighted Huawei's lead in 5G technology. It did not include parts of the segment featuring concerns over China's potential ability to spy using Huawei-equipped 5G networks.
"Recently, famous American talk show host Trevor Noah expressed his views on America's relentless suppression of Huawei," the CCTV host said. "He says the reason for the suppression is because Huawei possesses advanced 5G technology, while American 5G lags far behind." It then ran the Daily Show clips where Noah states, "And right now, the best 5G technology is made by a Chinese company called Huawei."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content