Britain’s sovereignty will be in jeopardy if the UK allows Huawei to develop its 5G infrastructure, the US secretary of state has warned.
Mike Pompeo described the decision facing Britain’s national security council as “momentous”.
The US administration has previously warned allies not to allow the company’s equipment to form part of their 5G networks, claiming it would be a security risk due to its links to the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied that its equipment could be used to spy on people and the US has totally failed to prove it.
Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Sunday night: “The UK has a momentous decision ahead on 5G.”
The irony of the US demanding the UK obey its call, when insisting that using cheaper networking gear is a loss of UK sovereignty appears to have been lost on Pompeo.
Pompeo’s last-ditch attempt follows Downing Street signalling that it believed Huawei kit was needed to ensure that the 5G mobile network was affordable. However, the government is expected to agree to new restrictions on the tech giant.
Furthermore, Britain’s spy agencies believe that any risk that Huawei technology could be compromised by the Chinese government to carry out surveillance can be mitigated. Their advice to ministers has been unchanged for nearly a year.
