LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - A senior British minister on
Wednesday denied that U.S. President Donald Trump was
responsible for Britain's 5G ban on Huawei, saying the decision
was a considered one despite attempts by some individuals to
claim credit.
Britain announced on Tuesday it would purge Huawei equipment
from 5G by the end of 2027, with Trump saying hours later that:
"We convinced many countries, many countries, I did this myself
for the most part, not to use Huawei, because we think it is an
unsafe security risk, it's a big security risk."
Asked about the remark, British Health Secretary Matt
Hancock told Sky News: "Well we all know Donald Trump don't we."
"All sorts of people can try to claim credit for the
decision but this was based on a technical assessment by the
National Cyber Security Centre about how we could have the
highest quality 5G systems in the future," he said.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Sarah Young; editing by
Michael Holden)