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Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre is expected to issue a reviewed decision on Huawei’s role in the country’s telecommunications network. Photo: Reuters

Huawei gets planning approval for US$1.2 billion UK R&D site

  • The research and development site, which Huawei acquired in 2018, will become its international headquarters for optoelectronics
  • Huawei’s future in Britain is in question after the US ratcheted up pressure on its allies to break ties with the Chinese telecoms gear supplier
Huawei

Huawei Technologies has received approval to break ground on a 1 billion pound (US$1.2 billion) research and development site near Cambridge in the east of England, even as the company’s future in the country hangs in the balance.

The Chinese telecommunications equipment maker received planning permission on Thursday from South Cambridgeshire District Council to build the first phase of a major development that has come under criticism from British and US lawmakers. The site was acquired in 2018 and will support 400 jobs across 50,000 square metres of facilities, according to a statement from Huawei.

It will become Huawei’s international headquarters for optoelectronics, a branch of fibre-optic broadband technology, said company vice-president Victor Zhang on a media call.

Huawei’s future in Britain is in question after the US ratcheted up pressure on its allies to break ties with the Shenzhen-based telecoms gear supplier and imposed sanctions that may threaten its silicon supply.

UK said to tell telecoms operators to stockpile Huawei gear in face of US sanctions

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre is expected to issue a reviewed decision on Huawei’s role in the country’s telecoms networks.

The review paves the way for a potential U-turn by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January approved Huawei as a supplier of 5G network equipment and fibre-optic components. That sparked a rebellion in his party and an angry phone call from US President Donald Trump.

The council vote on Thursday was purely on planning policy and did not take into account politics or security. To veto the investment on those grounds would require a decision by central government.

Zhang said plans for the site were put in motion in 2017.

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UK allows Huawei to help build its 5G network despite US warnings of national security threat

UK allows Huawei to help build its 5G network despite US warnings of national security threat

“Huawei could not have predicted the timing of today’s approval,” he said.

Still, former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, one of the British lawmakers pushing for Huawei to be banned entirely from the country, criticised the council’s move.

“It is a naive and stupid decision, because it runs in the face of all of the evidence of the misbehaviour by Huawei and the Chinese government,” he said via phone. “Huawei is an untrusted vendor and it’s clear South Cambridgeshire council have gone for the money.”

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