Huawei ban won’t stop spy threat when US and others are doing it too, says ex-Singapore minister George Yeo
- All major powers pose an intelligence risk and small countries may not be equipped to cope, he warns
- Solution is not to shut out Huawei but to be protected against all telecoms providers, Yeo argues
Countries risk being vulnerable to spying if they use foreign telecoms providers, but banning Chinese companies such as Huawei will not eradicate the issue, Singapore’s former foreign minister George Yeo has said.
Yeo, Singapore’s foreign minister from 2004 to 2011 and minister for trade and industry for five years before that, said the suggestion that Huawei equipment would allow the Chinese government to spy on customers was one-sided.
“To be worried that 5G can expose you to foreign intelligence efforts is a legitimate worry, and every country must take precautions,” Yeo said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
“It is not just China which may enter your system – the United States and others are also trying to enter your system. If you are a small country, it is very tough because you don’t have all the capabilities.”
Yeo, the chairman and executive director of Kerry Logistics Network, said that during his time in government Singapore asked BlackBerry to build a data centre in the city state so that data would not have to go through Canada.
