America’s Campaign Against Huawei Pays Off in the U.K. – Bloomberg
At the beginning of this year, President Donald Trump s push to get U.S. allies to ban China s largest telecommunications firm from their 5G wireless networks appeared to be in shambles. Despite two years of diplomacy and warnings, America s closest friend in Europe, the U.K., had signaled that it would allow Huawei equipment into its network.
This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson began the process of walking back that decision. The U.K. has now pledged to eliminate Huawei equipment from its 5G networks by 2027 and will ban the purchase of new Huawei gear after December.
This decision shows that a strategy of risk mitigation that a nation could prevent the Chinese government from using Huawei circuits and other gear as international listening posts doesn t work. In January, the British government said Huawei equipment would be vetted to make sure that the Chinese could not exploit it. That approach is no longer viable. As Oliver Dowden, the U.K. minister overseeing telecommunications, told Parliament this week: As facts have changed, so has our approach.