United States cautions Britain over Huawei's role in 5G
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TheUnitedStatescautionedBritainahead of a decision by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on what roleHuaweiwill have in 5G telecommunications networks that Washington still had significant concerns about the Chinese telecoms behemoth.
In the first big test of BrexitBritain's foreign policy, Johnson has so far resisted intense pressure from President Donald Trump's administration to blockHuawei, which theUnitedStatesfears could compromise British secrets.
Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, denies it is a vehicle for Chinese intelligence and says theUnitedStateswants to ban it because no UScompany can offer the same range of 5G technology at a competitive price.
After a public disagreement between USand British ministers in Davosovertaxes on digital services, USTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he would be meeting with British finance minister on Saturday onHuawei.
"Let me just say again, it’s a complicated issue," Mnuchin said. "We’ve made very clear that it relates to all of the critical areas that we have significant concerns. But again, there’s an ongoing discussion on these issues."
Britainis expected to make a final call on how to deployHuaweiequipment in its 5G networks later this month.
In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, theUnitedStatesis worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.
That puts Johnson on the spot with theUnitedKingdom's closest security ally just as he seeks to negotiate post-Brexit trade deals with both the European Union and theUnitedStatesand juggle conflicting EU and USpolicy on Iran.
Britainwants a trade deal with theUnitedStatesbut will still impose a digital service tax on the revenue of companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, business minister Andrea Leadsom said on Thursday.
Leadsom said thatBritainwill soon decide what roleHuaweiwill have but there are only a limited number of alternative providers, business minister Andrea Leadsom said on Thursday.
"Well there are other providers but they are limited, ideally there would be more providers of infrastructure similar to the work thatHuaweidoes but the UK is looking very carefully at this issue and we will be making a final decision soon," Leadsom told Sky.
"It is an ongoing process and there are all sorts of factors to take into consideration, as you say, like the availability of other providers, like the work thatHuaweihas already done in theUnitedKingdom,so these discussions are ongoing," she said.
"I share the concerns of many citizens about protecting our national security interest," Leadsom said.