British government defies Trump plea to ban Huawei
Chinese giant gets limited 5G role
LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson granted Huawei Technologies Co Ltd a limited role in Britain’s 5G mobile network on Tuesday, frustrating a global attempt by the United States to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West’s next-generation communications.
Defying Britain’s closest ally in favour of China on the eve of Brexit, Johnson ruled that “high-risk vendors” such as Huawei would be allowed into the non-sensitive parts of the 5G network.
Whilst such high-risk companies’ involvement will be capped at 35%, they will be excluded from the sensitive core, where data is processed, and they will be banned from all critical networks and locations such as nuclear sites and military bases.
Such an explicit rejection of US concerns that Huawei could be used to steal Western secrets was welcomed by the Chinese firm, founded in 1987 by a former People’s Liberation Army engineer, but dismayed the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Johnson and Trump spoke by phone shortly after the decision was made public.
“The prime minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies,” the British government said in a statement.
Speaking before the call, a Trump administration official said: “There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network.
“We look forward to working with the UK on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks.”
US congressional leaders widely criticised Britain’s decision, with powerful Republican Senator Lindsey Graham saying it could “greatly complicate” drawing up a new trade agreement after Britain exits the European Union on Jan 31.
A British official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said excluding Huawei would have delayed 5G and cost consumers more, echoing warnings from the telecoms industry.
5G’s much faster data speeds and increased capacity will make it the foundation stone of many industries and a driver of economic growth.
In what some have compared to the Cold War antagonism with the Soviet Union, the United States is worried that 5G dominance is a milestone towards Chinese technological supremacy that could define the geopolitics of the 21st century.
But as a critical centre for Chinese investment, trading and banking in
Europe, Britain sided with Beijing, in one of the biggest public breaks with Washington in decades.
“I fear London has freed itself from Brussels only to cede sovereignty to Beijing,” said Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, adding there should be a review of intelligence sharing with Britain.
Canada, which has yet to decide whether to allow the use of Huawei 5G technology, said it was studying Britain’s decision.
Britain said the decision protected national security while delivering world-class connectivity. It said intelligence-sharing, including with the US-led ‘Five Eyes’ alliance, would not be jeopardised.
“How we construct our 5G and full fibre public telecoms networks has nothing to do with how we will share classified data,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers after a meeting of the UK’s National Security Council chaired by Johnson. “Intelligence-sharing will not be put at risk...”