Huawei or US: Mike Pompeo issues warning to allies that partner with Chinese firm
- America ‘won’t be able to work alongside’ countries that use Chinese telecoms giant’s equipment, politician says
- Statement comes as Britain, New Zealand and Italy say there may still be room for Huawei in their 5G development plans
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has issued a stark warning to America’s allies of the risks of using Chinese technology firm Huawei’s equipment in their telecommunications networks.
“If a country adopts this [Huawei] and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we won’t be able to share information with them, we won’t be able to work alongside them,” he said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday.
“In some cases there’s risk – we won’t even be able to co-locate American resources, an American embassy, an American military outpost.”
His comments came after Britain, New Zealand and Italy all signalled this week that there might still be room for Huawei in their 5G infrastructure development plans.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Thursday that he wanted the US to “win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies”.