Boris Johnson uses Huawei phone for selfie after hinting at UK ban
- After TV interview, British PM posed with anchors holding what appeared to be P20 Pro in shimmering Twilight colour scheme
- Johnson had said at Nato summit Britain could follow international security allies by restricting Chinese telecoms firm’s products from 5G networks
Johnson had been speaking on British broadcaster ITV’s This Morning programme. After concluding an interview, he posed for a selfie with the anchors. Television cameras briefly captured him holding a distinctive Huawei product to take the photograph.
On Wednesday at the Nato summit, Johnson said that Britain could follow some of its international security allies by restricting or banning the Chinese company’s products from its fifth-generation telecommunication networks.
A representative from Huawei declined to comment. A British government spokeswoman did not comment.
Huawei has become a lightning rod for tensions between the US and Europe over trade and security policy as Washington threatens reprisals against any governments that allow Chinese equipment to form part of the crucial ultra-fast networks.
“I don’t want this country to be unnecessarily hostile to investment from overseas,” Johnson told a news conference after hosting the Nato summit.
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“On the other hand, we cannot prejudice our vital national security interest. Nor can we prejudice our ability to cooperate with our Five Eyes security partners and that will be the key criteria that informs our decision.”
Of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations, New Zealand, Australia and the US have effectively banned the company while Canada and Britain have not so far followed suit.
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