Pompeo warns UK against 5G

‘Giving China a role in network risky for intelligence sharing’

LONDON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Britain that allowing China a role in its 5G network risks undermining the historic allies’ intelligence sharing, during a visit to London that also highlighted their differences on Iran.

Following talks with Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday, Pompeo also condemned “disgusting” politicians who backed Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and urged European nations to take back captured Islamic State group fighters.

In a joint press conference with Hunt and a later speech, US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat delivered a blunt message on the importance of secure 5G networks.

“Insufficient security will impede the United States’ ability to share certain information within trusted networks,” Pompeo told an audience that included British MPs at Lancaster House in London.

“This is what China wants – to divide Western alliances through bits and bytes, not bullets and bombs.”

The United States has banned government agencies from buying equipment from Chinese firm Huawei over fears that Beijing could spy on communications and gain access to critical infrastructure.

A leak from Britain’s National Security Council last month suggested that the government in London was planning a limited role for Huawei in its 5G network.

But Hunt insisted that no decision had been made, adding that Britain would “never take a decision that compromised our ability to share intelligence” with its close allies.

Pompeo urged the country to be “vigilant and vocal against a host of Chinese activities”, adding that its government could demand access to data flowing through Huawei’s systems “as a matter of Chinese law”.

In remarks highly critical of China, he called the Belt and Road Initiative – its signature global infrastructure project – the country peddling “corrupt infrastructure deals in exchange for political influence”.

The talks also covered Iran, which said on Wednesday that it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers until they found a way to bypass renewed US sanctions.