US secretary of state: US-UK intelligence sharing will not end despite Huawei

Mike Pompeo remained critical of Chinese vendor

The US has walked back its threats to end sharing intelligence-sharing ties with the UK if it let Huawei contribute to building its 5G networks.

Boris Johnson has let the Chinese vendor have a limited role in the rollout, on the condition that it is excluded from “security-critical network functions”, and is capped at 35 per cent involvement in non-core infrastructure.

This was seen as flouting the desires of US President Donald Trump, who had warned that the UK’s intelligence sharing relationship would be at risk if it gave Huawei permission to deploy its equipment.

However, at an event in London on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) said that the two countries would work together to continue sharing intelligence.

“That relationship is deep, it is strong, it will remain,” he said alongside UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

“I am very confident that our two nations will find a way to work together to resolve this difference.”

He remained critical of Huawei, saying: “We will never permit American national security information to go across a network that we don’t have trust and confidence in. That’s the standard, whether it is a Microsoft system, an Ericsson system or a Chinese system.

“We will work together on this to ensure the systems are sufficiently secure, that they are going to deliver the outcomes we need, and that we have only a level of risk that we find tolerable.”