US warns UK on Huawei

America is ramping up its efforts to persuade its key allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks over concern that Britain has not done enough to acknowledge – and to mitigate – the threat it says is posed by the giant Chinese technology company.

‘‘It’s impossible to overstate how serious the mood is in Congress over this issue,’’ one senior Republican source said. ‘‘The Trump administration is right to be apocalyptic over critical overseas infrastructure [being] where Huawei’s 5G might end up.

‘‘No one is saying that countries have to choose between America and China, but they do have to choose between Chinese and American technologies that endanger them and us.’’

Cracking down on China is a rare bipartisan issue in US politics and has support from key administration foreign policy figures. ‘‘Communications networks form the backbone of our society and underpin every aspect of modern life,’’ said Garrett Marquis, the spokesman for the National Security Council.

‘‘The United States will ensure that our networks are secure and reliable.’’

The battle over 5G is fast becoming a 21st-century arms race. The technology, which is not yet widely available, will be much quicker than the current 4G networks, allowing for rapid data downloads and powering the increasingly sophisticated AI robots and self-driving cars that will dominate our future.

The fear in Washington is that if China, and particularly Huawei, gains control of those networks, they will leverage them to achieve their own antidemocratic ends. There are concerns over the networks being used for spying and surveillance, as well as Huawei handing over critical information about western countries to the Chinese government.

China has exploited ‘‘globalisation and the internet’’ for its own undemocratic interests, according to Rob Spalding, who until January was the senior director for strategic planning at the NSC, with a particular focus on the 5G arms race. ‘‘You [Britain] want to be an ally of the US, but you can’t be an effective ally if you’re allowing the Chinese to be so closely connected to you,’’ he said. ‘‘If you’re willing to undermine the relationship with these technological relationships with totalitarianism, then maybe the alliance isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. America can’t stand alone on this issue.’’

Spalding’s alarm has been echoed by the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who recently stated that the Five

Eyes – a crucial intelligencesharing arrangement between Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US – would be jeopardised if the other members did not emulate America’s tough stance.

‘‘If a country adopts this and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we won’t be able to share information with them, we won’t be able to work alongside them,’’ Pompeo told the Fox Business channel last month, in response to a question about Five Eyes. ‘‘In some cases, there’s a risk we won’t even be able to

co-locate American resources, an American embassy or an American military outpost.’’

– Sunday Times

‘‘You [Britain] want to be an ally of the US, but you can’t be an effective ally if you’re allowing the Chinese to be so closely connected to you.’’

Rob Spalding, former senior director for strategic planning at the NSC