Britain may now block Huawei after US blacklist decision

BRITAIN could block Huawei from helping build Britain’s 5G network because of Donald Trump’s decision to blacklist the company, the Culture Secretary has suggested.

Theresa May decided to push ahead with allowing Huawei, a Chinese company, to help build “non core” parts of the UK’S 5G network.

However, the US commerce department has added Huawei to an “entity list”, which effectively bars American companies from supplying it with parts.

Jeremy Wright told Politico: “What has changed recently is that the US has made some decisions, on entity listing for example, that make a difference because this is a hugely interconnected world.

“So if Huawei equipment has a large number of American components in it, and the Americans decide to choke off the supply, that is going to have an influence on whether we think Huawei equipment is good to use or not, regardless of any security concerns.”

Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump’s Secretary of State, last month warned British ministers that if the UK decided to allow Huawei to roll out 5G, it will “impede the US’S ability to share information within trusted networks”.

However, Mr Trump said during his state visit to the UK that the US would not limit intelligence-sharing, and suggested that the two

‘What has changed is the US has made some decisions that make a difference’

nations would come to an understanding.

A decision on Huawei is now likely to be left to Mrs May’s successor.

After The Daily Telegraph revealed that Mrs May had gone against the advice of five Cabinet ministers to give Huawei the green light, the Prime Minister sacked Gavin Williamson as defence secretary. Mr Williamson categorically denied leaking the information.

Huawei has denied it would share user secrets with the Chinese government and demanded that the US provide evidence to show such a risk exists.