
A major US ally, the UK continues to voice concerns about Huawei, but may still decide to use its 5G equipment.
The Financial Times reported last month that the British government decided it could “mitigate the risks” associated with using Huawei’s 5G technology.
On Monday, Jeremy Fleming, the head of the UK’s cybersecurity agency GCHQ, said the UK had not yet made a decision on integrating the firm’s tech into networks.
“We have to understand the opportunities and threats from China’s technological offer, understand the global nature of supply chains and service provision irrespective of the flag of the supplier (and) take a clear view on the implications of China’s technological acquisition strategy in the West,” Fleming said at a summit in Singapore, as reported by CNBC.
In an interview with the BBC, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei hinted that the UK could benefit from the vacuum left by the US.
“We will invest even more in the UK. Because if the US doesn’t trust us, then we will shift our investment from the US to the UK on an even bigger scale,” he said.