China hits out at UK Huawei ban, but British politicians complain Boris Johnson did not go far enough
- Members of the British Prime Minister’s Conservative Party complain that it could take seven years to remove the Chinese tech giant’s products from the country’s 5G network
- Chinese foreign ministry promises to take ‘all necessary steps’ to protect interests as state media calls for ‘public and painful retaliation’
Britain’s plan to phase out the use of Huawei equipment from its 5G networks has been met with opposition from Beijing – but has also attracted criticism at home for not going far enough.
China hawks within the Conservative Party have accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government of adopting delaying tactics by letting British telecoms companies delay the removal of the Chinese tech giant’s products until 2027.
For the Beijing government, however, the so-called “golden era” in relations – cemented five years ago when Queen Elizabeth welcomed President Xi Jinping to Britain – has given way to a new era of diplomatic tension that has not been seen in decades.
On Tuesday, Westminster tried to minimise the impact on UK-China ties by saying the ban was down to US sanctions that banned Huawei from using US-patented technology. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said these could lead to “security and reliability problems” with the company’s equipment.
That, British officials say, explains why existing Huawei equipment in the British 3G and 4G networks will not be affected because it would not be affected by the new US policy.