* PM Johnson meets senior ministers on Huawei decision
* Britain under pressure from U.S. to block Huawei
* Johnson says decision will not compromise security
(Adds details)
By Jack Stubbs and Paul Sandle
LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson will
decide if China's Huawei should have a role in Britain's future
5G mobile network on Tuesday, a choice that risks damaging
relations with the United States or China on the eve of Brexit.
In the biggest test of his post-Brexit foreign policy to
date, Johnson will chair a National Security Council meeting at
which a recommendation on Huawei's role will be made.
The decision will delight or dismay one of the world's two
biggest economies: President Donald Trump's administration fears
China could use Huawei to steal Western secrets, while Beijing
has warned blocking the company would hurt Chinese investment.
Johnson said on Monday it was possible to keep up with new
5G technology without compromising national security or
Britain's deep intelligence relationship with the United States.
"We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to
achieve both those objectives," he said in reply to a reporter's
question about Huawei.
Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment,
says the United States wants it blocked from Britain's 5G
network because no U.S. company can offer the same range of
technology at a competitive price.
5G is one of the biggest innovations since the birth of the
internet a generation ago, offering consumers and businesses
much faster data speeds.
'HEN HOUSE'
In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the
United States is worried that 5G dominance would embed China
into global communications networks, giving it an unassailable
technological and security advantage.
Sources told Reuters last week senior British officials had
proposed granting Huawei a limited role in the 5G network - a
"calculated compromise" which could be presented to Washington
as a tough restriction but also accepted by British operators
already using the company's equipment.
Huawei's equipment is already used by Britain's biggest
telecoms companies such as BT and Vodafone, but
it has been largely deployed at the "edge" of the network and
excluded in the "core" where data is processed.
The United States has argued that as 5G technology evolves,
the distinction between the "edge" and "core" will blur as data
is processed throughout the network, making it difficult to
contain any security risks.
Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative former head of the British
parliament's foreign affairs committee, compared giving Huawei
access to Britain's 5G network to "allowing the fox into the hen
house when really we should be guarding the wire".
But telecoms companies have warned that it will cost them
billions of dollars and delay the roll-out of 5G if Huawei is
banned completely. It would leave them reliant on Sweden's
Ericsson and Finland's Nokia, the only
major competitors to the Chinese giant.
British intelligence officials have criticised Huawei for
failing to address security flaws in its equipment, but say they
have found no evidence of state espionage and believe they are
able to successfully manage any risks posed by the firm.
"There's a disconnect between a political conversation and a
technical one, which is making it very hard for the UK to move
forward on this issue," said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy
director-general of the Royal United Services Institute and an
adviser to parliament's joint committee on national security
strategy.
The debate over Huawei's role in 5G networks has split
opinion across Europe, with politicians weighing the U.S.-led
arguments against lucrative trade ties with China.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May agreed last year before
leaving office to block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G
network, but to give it restricted access to non-core parts.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs, Luke Baker, Kylie MacLellan and Paul
Sandle; Editing by Timothy Heritage/Guy Faulconbridge/Alexander
Smith)
Vodafone (VOD)
BT (BT.A)
