The British government defied the United States in declining to ban equipment made by Chinese technology firm Huawei from being used in its new high-speed, 5G wireless network.
The United Kingdom announced Tuesday it would allow the company to supply equipment in some parts of the next-generation network, to be built in the coming years.
Britain, a key ally to the U.S., designated the Chinese firm a “high-risk vendor” but said it would be allowed to build noncore elements of the network. Huawei technology would also be banned from nuclear sites and military bases, according to the British government.
The Trump administration had lobbied its British counterparts to boycott the vendor over national security concerns. The U.S. has accused Huawei of having ties to China’s Communist Party and warned that equipment could be used by the Chinese state to spy on countries.
American officials had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with allies that did not ban Huawei. Britain is the most prominent ally so far to reject the warnings.
Germany is expected to make a decision on whether to allow the vendor to build portions of its own 5G network later this year.
