Ex-spy tells UK to ban Huawei kit from fixed and mobile networks
The US is on the verge of winning its battle to persuade the
UK to ban Huawei from its telecoms networks, says a former spy chief.
The tide turned on Saturday when John Sawers, former head of
the UK’s intelligence agency MI6, said that US sanctions on suppliers to Huawei
“mean that reliable non-Chinese suppliers to Huawei can no longer work with the
company”.
Sawers (pictured) wrote in the Financial Times (FT): “In
January, I thought the UK had found a reasonable balance in limiting Huawei’s
role in Britain’s 5G network, while not excluding it entirely. Huawei equipment
was thoroughly checked by a testing facility under the control of UK
intelligence services.”
He added: “Huawei’s use of reliable suppliers, such as the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, for crucial components also meant
we could assure its supply chain.”
However, he said that new US sanctions on Huawei has made
him change his mind: “The latest US sanctions, at the end of June and last
week, mean that reliable non-Chinese suppliers to Huawei can no longer work
with the company. UK intelligence services can therefore no longer provide the
needed assurances that Chinese-made equipment is still safe to use in the UK’s
telecoms network.”
Huawei responded over the weekend by saying that US
sanctions were “not about security, but about market position”. The statement
went on: “All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and
components over which the UK government has strict oversight.”
Last week UK prime minister Boris Johnson talked of
“potentially hostile state vendors” when considering the UK’s reaction to
toughening security laws in Hong Kong, the special administrative region of
China that has retained elements of independence since the UK ceded control 23
years ago. It was clear from the context that Johnson was referring to
companies such as Huawei.
In January the UK government said that UK mobile operators,
BT’s EE, Telefónica’s O2, CK Hutchison’s Three and Vodafone, would be allowed
to use Huawei kit in non-core parts of their 5G networks, but only up to 35% by
value.
In the weekend FT article, Sawers said: “There are now sound
technical reasons for the UK to change January’s decision. … The security
assessment is now different because the facts have changed.”
Johnson has also faced pressure from leading backbench
politicians in his ruling Conservative party to exclude Huawei altogether from
UK networks. A decision from the UK government is expected shortly.
Sawers said in his article: “We must be careful not to go so
far as to turn China into an enemy. We need its engagement on crucial issues
such as managing climate change and regulating international trade.”
He headed MI6 – officially the UK’s Secret Intelligence
Service – for five years from 2009, after spending two years as the country’s
permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.
Curiously, Sawers is now a non-executive director of energy
company BP, whose former CEO, John Browne, is now chairman of Huawei UK. Browne
left the BP role in 2007, long before Sawers joined the board.
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