China firmly opposes U.S. action against China Telecom: foreign ministry

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry said on Friday that Beijing is opposed to any action by the United States to revoke China Telecom Corp's authorisation to provide international telecommunications to and from the United States.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that the United States must stop politicizing commercial matters.

The U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies on Thursday called on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the authorisation for China Telecom due to what they called "substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom's operations." China Telecom has rejected the allegations.

"We urge the United States to respect market economy principles, to cease its mistaken practices of generalizing national security and politicizing economic issues, and to cease unjustifiable oppression of Chinese companies," Zhao said.

(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)