The UK Government is due to make their decision on 5G this week and the US has intensified the pressure as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said that the UK’s sovereignty is at risk if Huawei is allowed to develop 5G infrastructure in the country.
The US administration has repeatedly warned its allies not to allow the Chinese company to develop 5G infrastructure in their countries, claiming it would be a security risk considering the company’s close links to the Chinese government.
Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations that its equipment could be used to spy on people.
Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Sunday night:
The secretary of state retweeted a comment by Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee in the last parliament, in which the Conservative MP said:
“Sovereignty means control of data as much as land. We need to decide what we’re willing to invest in and who we are willing to share our tech with.
“The real costs will come later if we get this wrong and allow Huawei to run 5G.”
Pompeo’s last-ditch attempt follows Boris Johnson-led Conservative government signalling that it believed Huawei kit was needed to ensure that the 5G mobile network was affordable.
Whitehall officials have reportedly recommended granting a limited role to the company, stating that any risk to national security could be mitigated.
Furthermore, Britain’s spy agencies believe that any risk that Huawei technology could be compromised by the Chinese government to carry out surveillance can be mitigated, the report added.
Pompeo is due to meet Boris Johnson and the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, in London on Wednesday.
