₦airaland Forum

Win For Trump? Britain Backs Away From Huawei 5G Plans
Alasdair Lane
Alasdair Lane Senior Contributor
Leadership Strategy
I cover U.K. and European politics and policy.

‘Back away from Huawei.’

That was the demand made of British prime minister Boris Johnson, and that, it seems, is precisely what he has done.

Under pressure from a cabal of Conservative MPs, security experts, and President Donald Trump himself, Johnson has pulled plans to involve the Chinese telecoms giant in Britain’s 5G network infrastructure, reports suggest.

It was only earlier this year that Huawei had its role in the country’s digital future confirmed. That decision followed parliamentary assent for the firm to help broaden Britain’s next generation network, so long as its involvement was capped at 35%.

But now, reports indicate that Johnson has ordered officials to ensure that Huawei is expunged from 5G plans by 2023.

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In many ways, this comes as no surprise. Enlisting the company was his predecessor's idea—a scheme Johnson was never especially keen on, insiders say. His scepticism is no doubt driven by widely-held—though hotly disputed—fears that Huawei’s tech could be infiltrated by Chinese state snoopers.

It was on the back of such concerns that Conservative MPs mounted a parliamentary rebellion in March, almost defeating the government in a critical vote on network expansion.

These fears are echoed in the highest echelons of Britain’s security community, it seems, with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) confirming in recent days that a new enquiry will examine Huawei’s U.K. operation.

Across the Atlantic, enmity for the Chinese firm is more pronounced. President Trump was reportedly “apoplectic” in a phone call with his British counterpart after hearing of the U.K.’s Huawei plans. That rage soon crystallised into an official warning: any nation using Chinese tech risked their ties with the U.S. government.

For Johnson, this was clearly too much. Intelligence sharing with America is vital to Britain’s national security, not to mention the prime minister's hopes for a transatlantic trade agreement.

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With post-Brexit talks at a stalemate with Brussels, London needs the ballast of a bumper U.S. trade deal now more than ever. If Huawei must be hewn from Britain’s 5G network to achieve this, that’s clearly a price Downing Street is willing to pay.

Johnson’s Beijing-boycott might extend beyond telecoms, too—reports indicate that the British government is seeking to end its reliance on Chinese medical supplies and other strategic imports.

Greater self-sufficiency is surely to be welcomed, regardless of geo-politics. But by adopting policies that serve the interests of Washington, Britain becomes a player in the nascent Sino-American cold war.

This carries its own risks. Beijing has been as direct as Washington: if the U.K. locks Chinese firms out, the two nation’s bilateral trade—valued at over $90 billion annually—will suffer.

And then there’s the growing threat of China leveraging its economic advantage in Europe, seizing on the continent’s financial frailty amid the COVID-19 crisis to scoop up critical businesses.

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Johnson’s u-turn on Huawei also presents a very practical challenge—finding a replacement. If Britain is to be the cutting-edge, forward facing nation he envisions, comprehensive 5G coverage is crucial.

Huawei, remarkably, is one of only three companies in the 5G market, and is by far the most affordable. Mobile U.K.—a trade group representing British network operators—puts the cost of shunning the Chinese firm at an eye-watering £7bn ($8.6bn).

With a historically savage recession in the offing, that’s a figure Johnson will surely struggle to stomach. Then again, political expediency doesn’t always come cheap.

sweetlo:
Good news

PricyTech:
Has it been verified and verified that 5G is dangerous to humans

Daddysidhan:
The Chinese that could not uphold the agreement it has with British government on Hong Kong, western world is gradually uniting over the aggression and assertiveness. China is trying too hard to bend every existing rules to its advantage just like the Nazi Germany, the world will surely and definitely respond to the New Chinese behavioural madness.

dermmy:
Tell us why China should uphold the agreement it made with British government over HK? Why did Britain colonize and exploit Hong Kong in the first place? Agreement that serves the purpose of the imperialist who forced China to cede Hong Kong to her 1842.

America and Britian don't even have the moral ground to dictate to China how it should administer HK. Countries who have unseated democratic regimes around the world and installed dictatorship for their own greed and selfish interest now want to uphold democracy in HK. China would be so foolish to allow the west to take away HK from her.

China is a sovereign country and has the sovereign right to impose whatever she deems right and necessary to maintain its control over its Hong Kong province. U.S and Britain are just barking.

And America has bend almost existing rules to its own advantage more than Nazi Germany and i think America is the country with behavioural madness with their bullying tactics. They are the ones who would dictate how a country should run its affair, threaten every country who does not purchase arms from them with sanctions, they threatened India from getting the S400, threatened Egypt from buying Russian fighter jets and others. As if everyone must buy everything from them.

Recently they threatened european countries that are interested in joining the Nord Stream 2 cooperation with sanctions. I think the international business environment should be driven by supply and demand must you dictate how a sovereign country should run its own affair? Must you force and threaten every country with sanctions because you want them to do business with you? America is losing its credibility and stand with that behavioural madness you mentioned.

Nnamdipapakanu:
America means power...

Pls go and slam ur head against the wall

yanabasee1:
So, we will be stuck with 4G+ experience?


Whether the US and British likes it now or not...The world will still have better speed capacity......And it's durability..