LONDON – The British Government has decided to allow Huawei to build part of its 5G network. While there we no official confirmation, it is understood that the National Security Council, chaired by Prime Minister Theresa May, approved a limited role for the Chinese telecoms giant Tuesday (via Daily Telegraph). Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt are all said to have raised concerns during the meeting.
At Odds With UK Security Services and U.S.
The revelation came just weeks after the UK body monitoring the security risk posed by Huawei issued a stark warning. It said that previously raised security issues had not been dealt with. The board did though conclude it found no evidence of any backdoors in the firm’s software by the Chinese state.
Mrs. May’s decision also puts her Government at odds with the U.S. In 2018, President Donald Trump signed a law that prohibited the use of Huawei equipment. The U.S. administration had put increasing pressure on allies to implement similar restrictions.
Just because you didn’t find any backdoors doesn’t mean that there is not any in the software.