Washington sees no distinction between Huawei and Beijing, top US cybersecurity official says

Overlap between the entities ‘raises very serious concerns’, says Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications

Speech is the Trump administration’s latest push to warn world leaders against adopting Huawei’s 5G technology in their infrastructure

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US officials have called for countries to adopt a “risk-based security framework” to scrutinise vendors and companies in the foundational stages of 5G network deployment. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:48pm, 12 Sep 2019Updated: 2:14am, 13 Sep 2019

Robert Strayer, a top United States official in charge of cybersecurity, on Thursday said Washington did not see a distinction between Chinese technology giant Huawei and China’s government.

Speaking at a briefing in London, two officials – Robert Strayer, the deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications, and Ajit Pai, the chairman for the federal communications commission – urged countries to adopt a “risk-based security framework” to scrutinise vendors and companies in the foundational stages of 5G network deployment.

“There is no effective distinction between the company and the government in China,” Strayer said. “That raises very serious concerns for us.”

5G is the next generation of mobile technology that can improve the speed of the internet to a level that many believe would revolutionise the way people live, because its greater connectivity would allow thousands of appliances to be managed simultaneously.

Robert Strayer has warned Britain that if it were to incorporate Huawei into its system, London’s access to American intelligence would be cut off. Photo: Bloomberg

Thursday’s speech in Britain is the latest push by the Trump administration to warn world leaders against adopting 5G technology by Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker and 5G leader, in their infrastructure.