LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would make a decision on Huawei’s role in 5G networks that would give consumers the benefits of the new technology without compromising national security.
“The way forward for us, clearly, is to have a system that delivers for people in this country the kind of consumer benefits they want through 5G technology … but does not in any way compromise our critical national infrastructure, our security or jeopardize our ability to work together with other intelligence powers around the world,” Johnson said.
“So the Five Eyes security relationships we have we have got to keep them strong and safe,” he added. “We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives.”
Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spy operations.
In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.
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