Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that the United Kingdom’s decision to use Huawei technology in its national 5G network could “greatly complicate” any future trade deal with the United States.
Graham reacted to the decision on Tuesday hours after the deal with the Chinese telecoms giant was announced. The U.S. had pushed the U.K. to ban Huawei equipment over concerns that the state-owned company was being used as a tool to expand China’s surveillance capacity and other capabilities.
“This decision has the potential to jeopardize US-UK intelligence sharing agreements and could greatly complicate a US-UK free trade agreement,” Graham said in a tweet. “I hope the British government will reconsider its decision.”
[Read more: US conciliatory toward UK over decision to use Huawei in 5G network despite disappointment]
This decision has the potential to jeopardize US-UK intelligence sharing agreements and could greatly complicate a US-UK free trade agreement.
I hope the British government will reconsider its decision.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2020
The British government has labeled Huawei a “high-risk vendor” and said that the Chinese company would only help build nonessential parts of its 5G network. Huawei technology is also banned from military bases and key energy infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.
