Britain bans Huawei from 5G network as Boris Johnson rejects China’s threat of ‘consequences’
- Decision reverses earlier policy to allow Chinese tech giant access to network and follows growing pressure from US to alter course
- British culture secretary Oliver Dowden says nation will be ‘clear-eyed about China’ and security risks
Huawei Technologies will be banned from Britain’s 5G network, the British government announced on Tuesday in a major policy reversal.
The decision follows escalating tension with Beijing and pressure from Washington and could add to the pressure on other European countries to review their approach to the Chinese telecoms giant.
By tearing up his earlier decision to allow Huawei up to a 35 per cent share in the non-sensitive parts of Britain’s 5G networks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ignored threats from Chinese officials that there will be “consequences” if the UK treats China as a “hostile partner”.
The decision is one of the multiple signs of growing unease in Europe about China’s actions, including the imposition of national security law in Hong Kong and its initial handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This government is clear-eyed about China,” Oliver Dowden, Britain’s culture secretary told Parliament on Tuesday.
“We have been clear-eyed from the start that Chinese-owned vendors Huawei and ZTE were deemed to be high-risk.”