US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calls Chinese Communist Party the ‘central threat of our times’
- Pompeo in London for talks with British PM Boris Johnson about Huawei’s inclusion in UK’s 5G network providers
- Pompeo restates US stand that Huawei systems could transfer national security information to Chinese intelligence agencies
The US sees the Chinese Communist Party as the “central threat of our times”, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the nation’s top diplomat, said on Thursday.
Pompeo made the remark in London during a visit to speak with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the country’s decision earlier this week to allow Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies to take part in the development of its 5G network.
During a joint appearance with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Pompeo also stressed that Western allies must “ensure that the next century is governed by … Western democratic principles”.
Washington maintains that Huawei represents a security threat not only to the US but to all Western nations, contending that its systems – particularly its next-generation 5G telecoms networks – could be used by Beijing for espionage.
Despite the US campaign urging its allies to ban Huawei, Britain has chosen to let Huawei take part in noncore components of its 5G network, though it has capped Huawei’s market share at 35 per cent. Pompeo has called on the government to review its decision.
“When you allow the information of your citizens or the national security information of your citizens to transit a network that the Chinese Communist Party has a legal mandate to obtain, it creates risk,” Pompeo told reporters.