Beware of the Chinese Trojan horse, says MP
As Huawei’s £1bn Cambridge site gets green light...
A £1BILLION Huawei research facility given the green light yesterday could be a Trojan horse, a Tory MP has warned.
The controversial Chinese telecoms giant was granted planning permission for a hub near Cambridge that promises to create 400 jobs.
But the US State Department urged the UK to ‘carefully assess’ the impact of allowing an ‘ untrusted’ company access to sensitive information.
In a strong rebuke, an official said the US was ‘ deeply concerned’ about the ‘serious risk’ China’s activities, such as its research, posed to both UK and American national security.
Tory MP Bob Seely added that the UK needed to be wary of ‘Trojan horses’, with Huawei set to help build Britain’s 5G mobile network.
He said: ‘It is a bit of a power play by Huawei and China. If they want to invest then great but that doesn’t mean we should give access to 5G.’
A State Department spokesman said last night: ‘We have seen reports that the UK plans to allow Huawei to build a research and development facility in England.
‘We urge all countries, particularly allies and partners like the United Kingdom, to carefully assess the long-term impact of allowing untrusted companies like Huawei access to sensitive information.’
The spokesman said China acquired technology and intellectual property ‘through licit and illicit means, through collaboration and through deception, and by investment, joint research, and outright theft’.
In another development, Huawei was named on a list of companies the Trump administration said were owned or controlled by the Chinese military.
Before yesterday’s planning decision was announced, senior US official Keith Krach accused China of using similar schemes to expand its influence.
‘ They donate money, hire graduates, and burnish their PR credentials. Then comes bullying, coercion, and expansion of the surveillance state,’ he said. The planning permission comes as the National Cyber Security Centre carries out a fresh review of whether the security concerns around Huawei can be mitigated.
Boris Johnson is reconsidering whether to allow the firm to help build Britain’s 5G network in light of the review and after huge pressure from Tory MPs. He is expected to announce next month that the UK will aim to strip Huawei from the network in the next few years.
As Huawei was named on a list of companies the Trump administration said were owned or controlled by the Chinese military, Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson said it could replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK’s 5G network.
The company’s Europe president, Arun Bansal, said it was not lobbying for Huawei to be banned but would be capable of meeting the demand if it was.
‘A power play by China’