Fu Ying, a veteran Chinese diplomat, challenged "Huawei ban" comments by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at this year's Munich Security Conference on Friday. 

Fu, also vice-chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), and former deputy minister of foreign affairs, posed a question to Pelosi who warned nations against doing business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei. 

"Do you really think the democratic system is so fragile it could be threatened by this single high tech company, Huawei?" Fu asked, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump administration's continued attempts to ban Huawei from supplying its next-generation 5G telecommunications technology to the U.S. and its allies. 

Fu's question earned spontaneous applause from the attendees.

U.S. racketeering charge against Huawei 

Earlier on Thursday, U.S. prosecutors accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company. 

Read more:

EU 5G advice: No ban on Huawei in latest blow to U.S.

Ren Zhengfei at Davos: U.S. will further limit Huawei, but that's fine

In the indictment, Huawei was charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets from six U.S. technology companies and violating a racketeering law typically used to combat organized crime. 

In response, Huawei claimed in a statement that the U.S. Justice Department is trying to "irrevocably damage Huawei's reputation and its business for reasons related to competition rather than law enforcement." 

"Extending the Temporary General License won't have a substantial impact on Huawei's business either way. This decision does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly either," read the statement. 

(Cover photo via huanqiu.com)