Boris Johnson expected to back Huawei for Britain’s 5G network, but there are limits
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson says security interests can be protected
- Decision due three days before departure from the European Union, with pressure from US for a complete ban on the Chinese telecoms giant
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give Huawei Technologies the green light for a limited role in the country’s 5G network development, despite objections from his own parliamentary party.
Johnson was due to meet senior government ministers on the National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday to decide whether to ban or restrict the use of equipment made by Huawei in the next-generation mobile network.
It is widely expected the British government will restrict Huawei’s involvement to only the “noncore” part of the 5G network infrastructure, making the Chinese tech giant unable to access sensitive data to be handled by the networks.
The decision will be made three days before Britain’s departure from the European Union, amid US pressure on London to impose a complete ban on Huawei.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has previously said “only nations able to protect their data will be sovereign”, is due to meet Johnson when he visits London on Wednesday and Thursday.
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The British decision will be closely watched in Europe, most notably by Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is similarly stuck between business support for Huawei and her party’s objections in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament.
On Monday, Johnson said he would make a decision that would give Britons the benefits of the new technology without compromising national security.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t have technological progress here in the UK, allow consumers, businesses in the UK to have access to fantastic technology, to fantastic communications but also protect our security interests and protect our key partnerships with other security powers around the world,” Johnson said in reply to a reporter’s question about Huawei during a visit to a London university.
Britain is part of the Five Eyes security alliance with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The four others have indicated they would ban Huawei over fears that it is too close to Chinese intelligence agencies.
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On this, Johnson said: “So the Five Eyes security relationships we have, we have got to keep them strong and safe. We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives.”
Britain’s spy agencies have long argued that any risks from Huawei – which already supplies 3G and 4G equipment – can be contained. The intelligence chiefs are also due to attend the NSC, alongside heads of the armed forces, to give their advice in person, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Monday.
Mobile network providers have also argued it would be costly to replace Huawei with alternatives such as European vendors Nokia and Ericsson.
Johnson’s likely approach of distinguishing core and noncore parts of the 5G network infrastructure has been opposed by members of parliament from both the ruling Conservative and opposition parties.
Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative former head of the British parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said giving Huawei access to Britain’s 5G network would be like “nesting that dragon” and “allowing the fox into the hen house when really we should be guarding the wire”.
Several senior Conservatives also weighed in, including former minister Owen Paterson, and Julian Lewis, a former chairman of the defence select committee.
British officials, however, have been increasingly irritated by American lobbying, which they say has been simplistic, and failed to highlight any viable alternatives to Huawei that would allow Britain to take a different decision.
Additional reporting by Reuters
