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Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany called comments by officials in Berlin who compared the threat of U.S. and Chinese espionage an “insult” to American troops stationed in the country.

The volley by U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist who has stoked trans-Atlantic tensions with pointed comments on German-U.S. divisions, is likely to compound controversy over the participation of China’s Huawei Technologies Co. in Germany’s fifth-generation mobile technology.

“The recent claims by senior German officials that the United States is equivalent to the Chinese Communist Party are an insult to the thousands of American troops who help ensure Germany’s security,” Grenell said in a statement distributed by the embassy Monday.

The U.S. envoy didn’t identify specific officials. But the statement comes a day after Economy Minister Peter Altmaier defended the government’s decision not to impose a ban on Huawei, saying it didn’t issue a “boycott” of U.S. companies in the wake of espionage accusations by the U.S. National Security Agency dating to 2013.

“The U.S. also demands from its companies that they pass on certain information that are needed to fight terrorism,” Altmaier said during a talk show on ARD television late Sunday that focused on whether China can be trusted.

Peter Altmaier

Altmaier’s press office wasn’t immediately able to comment for this story.

Along with trade, defense spending and Russian gas, Huawei’s role in Germany’s 5G networks has been a source of increasing contention between Berlin and Washington. U.S. officials have stressed the risks of Huawei’s ties to Chinese intelligence.

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Merkel also faced pressure from her intelligence services and from within her own party to keep Huawei out. The German chancellor has insisted, however, that individual companies won’t be banned from Germany’s roll-out.

Brush Fires

The Chinese company has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying it would never do something to hurt its business.Grenell, a one-time Fox News contributor with a penchant for getting involved in political brush fires, invoked the U.S. and Germany’s post-World War II history and the American military presence in the country. The 50,000 U.S. military personnel “understand that we are always a generation away from losing our freedoms,” the ambassador said.

“There is no moral equivalency between China and the United States and anyone suggesting it ignores history -- and is bound to repeat it,” Grenell said.

Altmaier said that Germany’s cybersecurity legislation is aimed at ensuring the software and devices built into the country’s mobile phone network are safe. Telecom companies should choose the suppliers for the country’s network, not the government, Altmaier said.

“It must be demonstrably ensured that the Chinese state has no influence, and every single component must be certified to ensure it hasn’t been manipulated in any way,” Altmaier said on the talk show. “That of course also applies to European and U.S. suppliers.”

( Updates with response from U.S. ambassador in first paragraph )