Relations between Costa Rica and China have grown increasingly strained after the Central American nation’s decision to exclude Asian companies from its 5G network development, a move that has prompted sharp criticism from Chinese officials. Wang Xiaoyao, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, indicated that it seems Costa Rica does not want scientific and technical cooperation from her country.
“We have had very healthy diplomatic relations with Costa Rica for 17 years, including in the area of technology, but for some time now, due to the 5G issue, everything has been slowed down,” she said. Since Wang took office at the end of May 2024, it has not been possible to coordinate a specialist-level meeting with the top officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology regarding the 5G network.
“We have enough technological and scientific evidence to defend Asian technology, but we have not been able to explain it. I get the impression that Costa Rica does not want scientific and technological cooperation with China, since in recent years we have not held the joint commission to establish the key sectors for the next phase of cooperation,” she added.
The ambassador also referred to the questions raised by Costa Rica and the United States regarding alleged cyberattacks. “Many criticize China for attacking Costa Rica; what reason would we have to do this, to attack the networks of the country or the Costa Rican companies? I don’t have an answer. Spreading this kind of rumor is done only to defame China’s image, to attack Chinese companies, and to make everyone believe that China is unreliable and aggressive,” she added.
The Chinese Embassy in Costa Rica published a statement on its website underlining its reservations about the Budapest Convention, which it considers a regional treaty, and reaffirmed its commitment to a multilateral approach and international regulations under the framework of the United Nations.
The embassy stated that “the United States has fabricated and spread all kinds of false information about ‘the threat of Chinese hackers’ and used it to discredit China’s image,” while “the United States is the world’s true hacker empire, abusing its technological advantage to conduct wiretapping and espionage around the world, even on its allies.”
