The US’s trade war with China intensified this week as the government imposed a seven-year ban on sales of components to the network and handset vendor. Meanwhile, the UK warned that ZTE represented a national security risk. The US Commerce Department said ZTE had violated the terms of a sanctions settlement announced last year, which saw the Chinese firm paying fines for shipping telecoms equipment illegally to Iran and North Korea. However, the US organization said ZTE had subsequently paid full bonuses to the employees responsible for this illegal conduct, and that it lied about the practices to US authorities. This comes against a backdrop of rising hostility from President Trump towards China. He has threatened tariffs on many types…