China’s ambassador to Germany threatened to retaliate should the European nation decide to ban Huawei from its 5G rollouts, as tensions around the vendor’s involvement in the country increase, Bloomberg reported.

The news agency stated ambassador Wu Ken told guests at a Handelsblatt event there would be consequences if Germany was to take a decision that leads to Huawei’s exclusion, warning China’s government would “not stand idly by”.

It was unclear exactly what actions the nation may take, however Wu noted around a quarter of the 28 million cars sold in China each year are produced by German manufacturers, explaining to suddenly declare those vehicles are “no longer safe” because Chinese manufacturers could produce their own models would be “pure protectionism”.

Huawei’s involvement in Germany’s 5G rollouts continues to be questioned as resistance grows among certain members of the government.

Germany had looked to be on course to allow Huawei to provide 5G equipment after Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a proposed security framework in October, which outlined intentions not to impose a blanket ban on any single provider.

However, Merkel faced fresh opposition, with her China policy challenged by some politicians who instead proposed a bill which would impose a ban on untrustworthy 5G vendors, with Huawei in the firing line.

The bill will now be reviewed by Merkel’s government, Bloomberg reported.

Huawei faced accusations, driven by the US, that its equipment is unsafe because it contains backdoors allowing the Chinese government to spy, claims which the company has repeatedly rejected.

At the Handelsblatt event, Wu also reiterated Huawei is not legally obliged to provide data to the Chinese government.