British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s national security team is reviewing the United Kingdom’s posture toward Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant that U.S. officials regard as a platform for spy agencies.
“They are looking really from square one on the Huawei issue,” John Bolton, the White House national security adviser, told reporters after meeting with Johnson. “They were very concerned about not having any compromise in security of telecommunications in the 5G space.”
President Trump’s top advisers have been lobbying Western allies to ban the company from their next generation wireless networks for months, warning that a failure to do so could hamper military cooperation and intelligence sharing within NATO. In part because of Huawei’s status as a pioneer of the cutting-edge technology, the administration has had limited success, but Bolton sounded optimistic about that campaign in London.
“What they said was ‘we would like to review this and be very sure about our decision and we too are concerned about the security of our 5G telecommunications network,’” Bolton said.
Johnson took office in July, just months away from a deadline to lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union. That departure could jolt the British economy if U.K. and EU negotiators can’t strike a deal.
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to stop short of a full ban on Huawei by allowing the company to contribute technology to parts of the network deemed sufficiently secure. U.S. officials warned publicly that no such distinction could be made.
“This is exactly what China wants; they want to divide Western alliances through bits and bytes, not bullets and bombs,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a speech in London in May.
Johnson took office in July, just months away from a deadline to lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union. That departure could jolt the British economy if U.K. and EU negotiators can’t strike a deal, giving Johnson an incentive to work closely with the Trump team on a range of issues.
But a prospective Huawei ban could alienate China, which Johnson also regards as a potential economic benefactor.
“[The United Kingdom] has been undertaking a thorough, evidence-based and hard-headed review of the 5G supply chain to ensure the secure and resilient rollout of 5G,” a government spokesperson told the Financial Times. “We’ve been clear that the security and resilience of the UK’s telecoms networks is of paramount importance.”
