U.S. official rehashes calls for U.K. to ditch Huawei equipment

The country's national security advisor said it was "shocking" the U.K. considered Huawei as anything but a national security decision.

What you need to know

• A senior official in the Trump administration has once again urged the U.K. government to abandon all plans of incorporating Huawei's equipment in the country's 5G infrastructure.
• China will, through Huawei, "steal wholesale state secrets," said National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien.
• The top aide said everything from the country's nuclear secrets to the work of its intelligence agencies was at risk.

The ongoing American attempts at convincing global allies to reject Huawei's 5G equipment saw another push this week, thanks to the newly-minted National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien. The Trump administration's point man for all matters concerning national security remarked that was shocked that "the UK would look at Huawei as some sort of a commercial decision."

"5G is a national security decision," he said.

In a statement to the Financial Times, the top White House official suggested China's use of Huawei's equipment to spy on the U.K. was all but given and reiterated the extent of the danger according to his government:

They are just going to steal wholesale state secrets, whether they are the UK's nuclear secrets or secrets from MI6 or MI5.

The Chinese tech giant, on the other hand, has repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing, even going so far as to sue the U.S. government for its ban on the purchase of Huawei's networking equipment within the country. The company's lawsuit termed the ban "unconstitutional".

While Europe has largely shied away from acting on the United States' skepticism of Huawei, O'Brien pointed out that Japan, New Zealand, and Australia are already seeing things as he does. Even within Europe, the campaign against Huawei may be gaining steam. For example, while the German government had previously signaled its willingness to include Huawei in its 5G rollout, the move has proven to be politically costly for Chancellor Angela Merkel, with lawmakers in her own coalition pursuing legislation that would go counter to the government's previous decision.

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