Sen. Ben Sasse slammed the United Kingdom for allowing equipment from Huawei, a Chinese-state run company, to be used in its new 5G infrastructure.
The United States previously pressed its close ally to ban technology made by Huawei over concerns that the Chinese government was using the company’s equipment to spy on people and governments around the world. However, the U.K. defied the U.S. request on Tuesday, announcing that Huawei would play a part in the country’s plan to build its next generation network.
Sasse, a self-proclaimed China hawk, criticized Britain for disregarding U.S. warnings. The Nebraska Republican said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the announcement has harmed the U.S.-U.K. alliance.
“Here’s the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the U.K. has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei,” said Sasse, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“During the Cold War, Margaret Thatcher never contracted with the KGB to save a few pennies,” Sasse continued. “The Chinese Communist Party has infected Five Eyes with Huawei, right at a time when the U.S. and U.K. must be unified in order to meet the global security challenges of China’s resurgence.”
The British government has labeled Huawei a “high-risk vendor” and said that the Chinese company would only help build non-core parts of its 5G network. Huawei technology is also banned from military bases and key energy infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.
