‘Irresponsible’ to allow Chinese firm tech access

MINISTERS WOULD be “naive” and “irresponsible” to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei access to the UK’s telecommunications system, a leading defence think-tank has warned.

A report for the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said Beijing had a long record of cyber attacks as part of its “ruthless” drive to advance Chinese interests at the expense of the West.

It said that if Huawei was permitted to participate in the rollout of the new 5G mobile networks it could install a “hidden backdoor” giving the Chinese government access to the system.

The report, by Charles Parton, a former diplomat with more than 20 years’ service in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Britain must be prepared to resist Beijing’s interference across a range of spheres.

“Unlike Moscow, Beijing’s interference is not aimed at subverting the West, but represents a rigorous, ruthless advancement of China’s interests and values at the expense of those of the West,” it said.

On Huawei, it said that as far back as 2013, the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee had warned that GCHQ could not be confident of detecting “insertions” in software which would enable the covert downloading of information.

“Allowing Huawei’s participation (in 5G) is at best naive, at worst irresponsible,” the report said.

MI6 chief Alex Younger last year expressed concern about security implications of Huawei’s involvement in 5G. The National Cyber Security Centre this month reportedly said it could mitigate the risks.