London: New Huawei equipment will be banned from the U.K.’s 5G telecoms infrastructure beginning in 2021, the British government announced Tuesday, reversing its previous stance on the Chinese company, in a move it described as a direct response to U.S. sanctions targeting the company, imposed in May.
The ban comes amid growing global concerns over the security implications of Chinese technology. On Sunday, President Trump’s advisor Peter Navarro told Fox News that the Administration was “just getting started” with actions against TikTok and WeChat, a popular Chinese-owned messaging app. Earlier in July, India banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok and WeChat following a diplomatic spat between the two countries.
The U.K.’s Huawei decision represents a victory for the Trump Administration, which has been trying for years to pressure allies to remove Huawei equipment from their telecoms infrastructures over concerns that the Chinese government could possibly lean on the company to allow it to conduct espionage. The U.K. had earlier resisted the U.S. government’s requests, amid pressure from telecoms companies who noted Huawei’s equipment was the most advanced and cost-effective.
