Pompeo to Warn UK PM Huawei Access Could Threaten Tech Partnership: Report
TEHRAN(Tasnim) - The White House has been lobbying its European allies against granting Huawei access to their networks, claiming the Chinese government wields significant control over the company, despite its denials.
According to The Telegraph, Donald Trump’s secretary of state will warn Theresa May against granting Huawei access to Britain’s 5G networks, as she faces a backlash over her decision to sack Gavin Williamson.
At a meeting with May and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in London next Wednesday, Mike Pompeo intends to spell out that the Chinese technology company poses a risk to British citizens and could breach privacy protections, reports suggest.
According to a senior US State Department official cited by the media outlet, the former head of the CIA will warn that granting Huawei access could put US-UK technology partnerships in jeopardy, Sputnik reported.
The source said there was an imperative need to warn allies and partners on the issue, sharing information about the risks the presence of Huawei and their networks present, the risk to their own people, loss of privacy protections, and the risk that China can use the data in a way that's not in the best interests of their country.
Earlier, compelling evidence indicating that UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson was behind the Huawei leak led to May's decision to sack the high-profile official, Downing Street said on Wednesday.
The decision followed a warning from Hunt this week that the United Kingdom and British businesses should exercise a degree of caution when cooperating with Chinese companies such as Huawei, as they allegedly could pose a threat to national security.
This followed earlier reports that May had authorized Huawei's partial participation in the building of Britain's future 5G mobile phone network.
Last year, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States banned Huawei from participating in government contracts due to security concerns, accusing the company of being sponsored by the Chinese state and spying on its behalf through its devices, something Huawei has vehemently denied.