LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - China's Huawei has clear
conditions to meet for Britain to continue to allow its
involvement in the development of 5G telecoms infrastructure,
Britain's health minister said on Sunday, after a report that
the firm would be banned from the project.
Officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei
Technologies equipment in as little as six months, the
Sunday Telegraph reported, in a reversal of a decision earlier
this year.
Asked about the report, health minister Matt Hancock
declined to comment on it specifically but said the initial
recommendation had always been conditional.
"I wouldn't comment on leaks of that kind. What I can say is
that when we came out with an interim report on this earlier in
the year, there are a number of conditions that needed to be
met," he said.
"I'm sure that the National Security Council will look at
those conditions, and make the right decision on this, to make
sure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure...
but also that it is secure."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei
a limited role in Britain's 5G network, has faced intense
pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to
ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds.
On Tuesday he toughened his rhetoric on Huawei, warning
China he would protect critical infrastructure from "hostile
state vendors".
Ministers have also cited U.S. sanctions as being likely to
have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a 5G provider.
The Sunday Telegraph report said that the National Cyber
Security Centre had changed its recommendations on Huawei as the
sanctions would force the company to use untrusted technology.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)