Britain downplays Huawei threat to U.S. intelligence sharing

Britain downplays Huawei threat to U.S. intelligence sharing
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the Huawei offices in Reading, Britain, May 2, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville Copyright TOBY MELVILLE(Reuters)
Copyright TOBY MELVILLE(Reuters)
By Reuters
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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain would never take a decision on Huawei and 5G that would threaten its intelligence sharing alliance with the United States but it also does not want a new Cold War with China, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Tuesday.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

"We as a government are going through the process of making an assessment to what extent if, at all, we are able to use Huawei kit," Jeremy Hunt told a Wall Street Journal conference.

"We are never going to make a decision which compromises our intelligence sharing with our five eye partners."

(Reporting By Guy Faulconbridge. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)

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