UK to Allow Huawei on 'Non-Core' Parts of Infrastructure, Drawing US Lawmakers' Ire

The U.K. government said it will allow equipment from Huawei on “non-core” parts of the country’s communications infrastructure but will bar it from “sensitive locations” like military bases. The UK’s National Security Council didn’t mention Huawei by name in its Tuesday announcement, instead saying it’s allowing a “high risk vendor” into some parts of the country’s infrastructure because the government believes the risks the company poses can be “safely managed.” The government also said it will cap Huawei’s share of the U.K. market at 35 percent. Huawei “is reassured by the UK government’s confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track," said Vice President Victor Zhang in a statement. "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future." Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with President Donald Trump after the announcement about “working together to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks,” a White House spokesperson said. The U.K.’s decision drew the ire of many U.S. lawmakers, some of whom recently filed legislation to bar the U.S. from sharing intelligence “with any country that permits operation within its national borders” of Huawei-produced 5G equipment (see 2001080002). “Allowing Huawei to build the UK’s 5G networks today is like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War,” tweeted Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. “The short-term savings aren’t worth the long-term costs," Cotton said. He and two other Senate Republicans -- John Cornyn of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida -- wrote Johnson Monday urging the country to fully ban Huawei from that country’s infrastructure. “Seeking to limit Huawei to ‘non-core’ infrastructure, as today’s decision attempts, will not succeed in limiting Huawei’s ability to conduct espionage, interfere with critical infrastructure or mobilization, or even access more sensitive nodes in the telecom network,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “America has never been weaker” and has “never had less influence," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. "Not even our closest ally Britain, with a Trump soulmate in Downing Street, listens to us anymore." Johnson “has chosen the surveillance state over the special relationship” between the UK and U.S., tweeted House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. It’s “tragic to see our closest ally, a nation [former President] Ronald Reagan once called “incandescent with courage,” turn away from our alliance and the cause of freedom.”