US asks Germany to ban Huawei or face restricted intelligence sharing

Germany's green light for Huawei to participate in 5G network building incurs warning from US over intelligence sharing

The US government has warned Germany that it faces the risk of being cut off from US intelligence-sharing after allowing Huawei to bid for contracts building the country's 5G networks.

According to the WSJ, US Ambassador Richard Grenell wrote a letter to Germany's economy minister Peter Altmaier on Friday, urging him not to permit any Chinese company to participate in 5G infrastructure development in their country.

A spokesman for Germany's minister acknowledged receipt of the letter from the US embassy. He revealed that the letter was being evaluated and that the ministry would respond soon.

The Trump administration has been pressing allies to ban Huawei and other Chinese vendors from central roles in 5G projects over concerns that they could be importuned to collect data abroad and share it with Chinese government agencies.

So far, the US government has been met with a half-hearted response from most of its allies.

Huawei has repeatedly denied the US government claims, stating that it doesn't provide any information on foreign powers to China's government. The communications hardware giant has also launched marketing and legal campaigns to defend its position.

It has filed a suit against the US over the 2019 National Defence Authorisation Act, which bars US federal agencies from purchasing Huawei equipment or contracting with companies that use Huawei hardware. The Act is therefore a de facto ban on US telecoms operators buying Huawei kit.

This is the first time that the US has explicitly warned a country to face intelligence blackout for allowing use of Huawei equipment in their telecom infrastructure.

Last month, German officials said they no evidence so far that Huawei would assist Chinese agencies in spying and that they were also unsure of the legality of such a request.

On Thursday, Altmaier said Germany is not very much interested in banning Huawei, but would amend its laws to ensure that all equipment used in the ultrafast 5G telecom networks are secure.

For the past few years, the two countries have been carefully trying to rebuild their intelligence-sharing relationships following the 2013 and 2014 Edward Snowden disclosures about NSA snooping.

Germany's decision not to ban any Chinese firms from bidding for contracts in upcoming 5G networks follows a similar announcement by the UK that any risks arising from the use of Chinese equipment in mobile networks can be mitigated.

However, security concerns have led Australia and New Zealand to comply with the US demands. While Australia has fully banned Huawei's 5G equipment, New Zealand has imposed a partial ban on Huawei company.