Despite warnings by the Trump administration, the prime minister Boris Johnson has given the go ahead for Chinese firm Huawei to supply technology for the UK’s 5G mobile network.
The decision to allow the company to play a role in the network has been viewed as something of a snub to the US which has claimed that allowing the Chinese firm a role in 5G risks giving the Chinese government a back door into the UK’s telecoms network.
Matt Pottinger, Donald Trump’s deputy national security, is widely reported as saying it would be ‘nothing short of madness’ to use Huawei’s technology in the UK’s 5G network and has warned that any involvement would impact intelligence sharing between the two countries.
The Engineer’s recent poll on the topic, in which 58 per cent of our 574 respondents said that the firm should be excluded from providing 5G technology to the UK, suggested that these concerns are shared by many in the UK.
Nevertheless, UK intelligence services have advised the government that the firm’s involvement in “non-core” elements of the system would not present a security risk and in a statement UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced a tightening of these restrictions, confirming that the firm would be excluded from all safety and security critical aspects of the network and that its market share would be capped to 35 per cent.
Despite this, the US administration appears less than impressed by the decision. In a tweet, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo – who is flying to the UK who is flying to the UK for talks with the government – called it a “momentous decision” that risks British sovereignty. Also taking to Twitter, Republican senator Mitt Romney said: “The UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCP’s surveillance state in.”
Many senior Tories, including former cabinet members Iain Duncan Smith, Liam Fox and David Davies, are also reported to be alarmed by the decision, amidst concerns that it could undermine efforts to secure a favourable trade deal with the US following the UK’s exit from the EU later this week.
A dubious deal with Huawei, just about to start Brexit (no, it’s not all over at the end of the month, it is just beginning!).
That’s what you call good timing.
Hi All,
This is a quite amusing topic to say the least. Traditionally speaking countries and governments spy on each other and their own populaces. The US spies on us directly and then probably using apple etc spies again. We spy on them and so on.
None of this is a problem as we are all apparently friends?
The US clearly doesn’t like the idea of being spied on and neither do we, but that’s the way it goes.
Now we are going to let the Chinese in on the party of spying, who says they aren’t doing it already? As the worlds phones and tech are all made in China! including apple’s.
If by letting China have something to do with our 5G network means we give them a backdoor into our systems, is that a cause for concern? This could end up being a swing door that we can snoop through too!
Major conflicts around the world have traditionally in part been caused by lack of understanding between powers, hence on the one hand spying could be seen as a good thing? As you get to see what the other guy is doing.
We can only hope that China’s thousand year plan doesn’t include the eradication of the west, but how can it as we buy all their stuff.
Personally, I am sure there is some risks in allowing China into our 5G network but our clever people will no doubt be keeping a very close eye on theirs.
Its time we all started acting as a world community and engineered our way out of the impending environmental disaster we engineered our way into. So we need to work with the Chinese as we only have one planet. The global warming thing should be an easy engineering fix but only if we work together.
Jeremy Frith’s interconnection between A. Global Warming & B, Spying on each other is a very good point. Global Warming can only be resolved by cooperating Governments. We ALL win or loose that contest. If we loose then their will be no market in which to sell the goods made. I spent much of my Royal Navy Communications life, sitting in the “Y” office listening in to Russian Warships – no doubt they were doing exactly the same to us.. I am still here and I am now 85. Spying pales into insignificance in comparison to Climate Warming.