After US, UK mulls tougher action on Huawei

In a U-turn, the UK government that earlier allowed Huawei to sell its 5G technology in the country has signalled a tougher stand against the Chinese telecom giant, a day after the US designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks.

The UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told reporters that he "wanted Samsung and NEC to become 5G network kit providers", and a review is under way into how forthcoming US sanctions on Huawei would affect the UK's use of its products.

"Given that these sanctions... are extensive, it is likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider for the 5G network," Dowden was quoted as saying.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday designated Chinese telecom companies, Huawei and ZTE, as national security risks to America's communications networks.

"With today's orders, and based on the overwhelming weight of evidence, the Bureau has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks to America's communications networks - and to our 5G future," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement.

"Both companies have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China's military apparatus, and both companies are broadly subject to Chinese law obligating them to cooperate with the country's intelligence services," he added.

The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the US sanctions would force the country into a rethink over Huawei and its products.

The sanctions forbid Huawei and the third parties that manufacture its chips from using "US technology and software to design and manufacture" its products.

In November 2019, the US FCC unanimously adopted a ban on the use of universal service support to purchase, obtain, or maintain any equipment or services produced or provided by companies posing a national security threat to the integrity of communications networks or the communications supply chain.

In May, bowing to pressure from his own party members, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked officials to draw up plans to reduce Huawei's involvement in the nation's 5G networks to zero by 2023.

The UK's original plans, as recently as in January, was to allow considerable involvement of Huawei in the country's 5G network as Britain's intelligence agencies suggested that any possible misuse of the Chinese telecom giant's equipment for mass surveillance could be contained, according to both The Guardian and The Telegraph.

The British PM wanted to cap Huawei's share in the country's telecommunications infrastructure market at 35 per cent.