Huawei row as Boris Johnson meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Huawei ‘is an arm of the Chinese state’: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatens to curb intelligence sharing with UK over 5G move as tensions rise ahead of crunch talks with Boris Johnson today
- Boris Johnson is due to hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later
- Transatlantic tensions over decision to let Huawei have role in UK 5G network
- Mr Pompeo warned intelligence sharing could be at risk over Chinese firm
Boris Johnson faces a bruising showdown with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today with tensions running high over Huawei.
The PM and Mr Pompeo will hold talks later amid warnings that transatlantic intelligence sharing could be threatened by the decision to give the Chinese tech giant a role in the UK’s new 5G network.
Mr Pompeo made no secret of his displeasure at the move as he arrived in London last night for his visit, branding the firm an ‘extension of the Chinese Communist Party’ and a ‘real risk’.
He insisted Britain should ‘re-look’ at the step, which followed months of wrangling with Washington and between ministers.
Mr Johnson has been desperately trying to defuse the spat and avoid a full-scale Tory revolt after the announcement on 5G.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made no secret of his displeasure at the Huawei move as he arrived in London last night for his visit, holding talks with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured left)
Huawei has been classified as a ‘High Risk Vendor’ but ministers concluded that banning the firm altogether would delay the roll out of 5G by up to three years
Boris Johnson (pictured yesterday) has been desperately trying to defuse the spat and avoid a full-scale Tory revolt after the announcement on 5G
Huawei has been classified as a ‘High Risk Vendor’. But ministers concluded that banning the firm would delay the roll out of 5G by up to three years, with massive knock-on costs for consumers and the economy.
In a compromise deal, the firm will be banned from involvement in ‘core’ infrastructure which has access to sensitive data, and will instead be restricted to supplying the ‘edge’ of the system, such as masts and antennae.
The firm’s total market share will be capped at 35 per cent.
The Prime Minister told Donald Trump earlier this week that Britain would work with Western allies to diversify the technology market and ‘break the dominance’ of companies like Huawei.
Mr Johnson’s charm offensive with the US President appeared to head off immediate reprisals from the US President, which had lobbied hard for a blanket ban on Huawei.
But Mr Pompeo, who will hold talks with the PM in Downing Street later, said he remained concerned about the potential impact on intelligence sharing and called on Mr Johnson to think again.
‘We’ll have to wait to see what they actually do and importantly how they implement what they’ve laid out,’ he said.
‘There’s also a chance for the UK to relook at this as implementation moves forward.’
He added: ‘We will make sure that when American information passes across a network we are confident that that network is a trusted one.
‘Our view of Huawei is: putting it in your system creates real risk. This is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party with a legal requirement to hand over information to the Chinese Communist Party. We’ll evaluate what the United Kingdom did.’
Downing Street insisted that the Huawei decision would have ‘no impact’ on the UK’s ability to share sensitive intelligence with allies, including the US, as this was already conducted via secure networks.
However, the PM is facing a growing mutiny among Tory MPs who want the Government to limit the firm’s use further or ban it altogether.
Mr Pompeo (pictured centre) and US ambassador Woody Johnson (third from left) dined with ministers including (right to left) Julian Smith, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Mr Raab last night. Home Secretary Priti Patel (fourth from left) and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick (second from left) also attended the dinner
Ex-Cabinet minister Damian Green said yesterday that the scale of the revolt could even be big enough to overturn Mr Johnson’s huge 80-strong Commons majority.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said he would be pressuring the government to ensure the 35 percent market share cap on Huawei is forcibly reduced in the years ahead.
‘We want to see modifications and changes made,’ he said. ‘We want to see commitment to actually getting Huawei out of the system over a period of time. They’ve got more to do.’
Another senior Tory MP said rebels were considering possible amendments to the 5G legislation designed to either reduce the 35 per cent market share allowed to Huawei or to set out a legal timetable to exclude the Chinese firm by a set date.
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