Boris Johnson may block Huawei's role in building 5G networks

President Trump had pressed Mr Johnson on the issue on Tuesday, during a meeting in Downing Street

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted that the UK may restrict Huawei's involvement in building 5G infrastructure in the country.

Johnson said that main criteria in the government's final decision on Huawei would be whether it would affect co-operation with the members of the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance.

"I don't want this country to be hostile to investment from overseas," Johnson said during a Q/A session with journalists after the Nato leaders' meeting in Watford, according to the Guardian.

"On the other hand, we cannot prejudice our vital national security interests, nor can we prejudice our ability to cooperate with other Five Eyes security partners," he added.

"That will be the key criterion that informs our decision about Huawei."

Since last year, the US has been pressing the UK and other allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks in their countries, alleging that Huawei's equipment could be used to spy on the West.

President Trump pressed Mr Johnson again on this issue on Tuesday night during a meeting in Downing Street.

Following the meeting, a White House spokesman said that both leaders discussed how both countries could work together to ensure the security of their telecom networks and "guard against untrusted providers."

At the NATO meeting, Trump described Huawei as a "security danger," claiming that no other country he had spoken to would allow Huawei to build their 5G telecom networks.

"I spoke to Italy, they look like they are not going to go forward with that. We spoke to other countries and they are not going to go forward," he said.

The Government has deferred a ruling on Huawei's involvement in building 5G networks until after the General Election on 12th December.

Huawei currently faces intense scrutiny in several western countries over allegations that its equipment and technology could be used by the Chinese government for spying, which Huawei has repeatedly denied.

Earlier this year, Abraham Liu, Huawei's Vice-President for the European Region, said that the company was willing to accept supervision and suggestions of all European governments, customers and partners.

He also highlighted that Huawei had an excellent record in the area of cyber-security, and that Huawei's products are launched in the markets only after passing rigorous tests and reviews by multiple operators and regulators.

"We're confident the UK government will continue to take an objective, evidence-based approach to cyber security," a Huawei spokesperson said following Johnson's statement.

"Our customers trust us because we supply the kind of secure, resilient systems called for by the Nato Declaration and will continue working with them to build innovative new networks," the spokesperson added.

Although controversy surrounds Huawei at the moment, banning such a major telecoms vendor - already deeply embedded in the UK's telecoms infrastructure - would likely result in massive costs. It is not as simple as swapping one vendor for another; such a ban would delay deployments and require that companies restart tenders from scratch.