The US warned the UK and other western countries adopting Huawei technology for 5G mobile networks, risk affecting future intelligence sharing with it.
The strong words come in the wake of a leak from Whitehall reported by The Daily Telegraph last week, that revealed the UK will allow Huawei to supply equipment for non-core parts of mobile networks. A measure the US has said will not work in practice.
US Department of State deputy assistant secretary Robert Strayer said today (April 29) that Huawei “was not a trusted vendor” and any use of its technology in 5G networks was a risk. He labelled Huawei as a “not trusted vendor” and use of its equipment poses a risk.
A country using “untrusted vendor” parts would force the US to, “reassess the ability for us to share information and be interconnected”, hinting intelligence-sharing could be at risk.
Strayer added allowing Huawei to be part of mobile network is akin to handing China a “loaded gun”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the UK should exercise “a degree of caution” about the role of large Chinese firms such as Huawei.