China threat of ‘retaliation’ after Britain ousts Huawei

Government considering statement on Sino-british relations after decision to exclude tech firm from 5G

BRITAIN should expect “public and painful” retaliation for its decision to force the Chinese company, Huawei, out of its nascent 5G mobile network, Beijing warned yesterday.

The threat came as Donald Trump, the US president, appeared to take credit for having “convinced many countries”, including the UK, not to use Huawei after Boris Johnson barred the company from the UK’S 5G.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the Government is now considering making a Commons statement to MPS next week to set out the Government’s views on Sino-british relations.

In a major about-turn, the Prime Minister this week ordered telecoms firms to remove Huawei equipment from the 5G network by 2027.

The decision prompted an angry response in China’s state-controlled Global Times newspaper yesterday. An editorial warned: “It is necessary for China to retaliate against the UK, otherwise wouldn’t we be too easy to bully. Such retaliation should be public and painful for the UK.”

There was also a warning from Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador in London, who said “trust is seriously damaged between the country level and among the businesses”.

He suggested some of China’s firms might pull out of the UK and he told a video conference: “The mutual trust was undermined. It will be difficult for the businesses to have confidence to have more investment. Businesses can make their own conclusions.”

The move, which will cost billions and delay the deployment of 5G in the UK by up to three years, came after a Government-ordered review found the security of Huawei’s kit could not be guaranteed because of US sanctions.

As Washington announced new visa restrictions on some Huawei employees, Mr Trump boasted in a press conference no White House administration had been “tougher on China” than his. He said: “We convinced many countries – many countries – and I did this myself, for the most part, not to use Huawei because we think it’s an unsafe security risk. It’s a big security risk.

“I talked many countries out of using it. If they want to do business with us, they can’t use it... the UK announced that they’re not going to be using it. And that was up in the air for a long time but they’ve decided.”

There was also support from Germany, where Norbert Röttgen, chairman of its parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said the EU should back the UK in the escalating row because China had refused to allow EU countries to participate in the 5G rollout there.

He wrote on social media: “The UK decided to remove Huawei from its networks by 2027. Today, Chinese state media call for ‘public and painful’ retaliation against the UK. The irony: European companies haven’t been allowed to roll out 5G in China either.”

Bob Seely, a Tory MP and China critic, said of the expected Commons statement: “What we need now is a clear review of our China policy.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, added that Mr Johnson must order a review of all of China’s involvement in the UK economy, particularly the investment in three nuclear power stations at Sizewell C, Bradwell B and Hinkley Point.