Britain will reduce Chinese tech giant Huawei’s controversial involvement in its 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the green light to Huawei’s participation in January, despite widespread domestic opposition and pressure from the United States.
But he has now instructed officials to draft plans that would see China’s involvement in Britain’s infrastructure end by 2023, according to the report.
Washington has pushed hard for countries to bar Huawei from building their next generation 5G mobile networks, claiming its equipment can be used to spy for Beijing.
Johnson is due to meet US President Donald Trump next month for the G7 summit, with Britain hoping to scale up talks over a bilateral trade deal.
MPs in Johnson’s own party have led the charge against Huawei’s involvement, a movement that has gathered pace following China’s actions during the coronavirus crisis.
“He has taken a great many soundings from his own MPs on this issue and shares their serious concerns. The deal was struck before the pandemic hit but coronavirus has changed everything,” an unnamed source told the paper.
Downing Street said they would not comment on the latest report.
Related: Trump Signs Bill to Help Telecoms Replace Huawei Equipment
Related: Huawei and Supply Chain Security – The Great Geopolitical Debate
Related: Go Huawei: UK PM Challenges US Critics of China Firm

More from AFP
- Dutch, European Hospitals ‘Hit by Pro-Russian Hackers’
- Cyberattacks Target Websites of German Airports, Admin
- Meta Slapped With 5.5 Million Euro Fine for EU Data Breach
- International Arrests Over ‘Criminal’ Crypto Exchange
- France Regulator Raps Apple Over App Store Ads
- More Political Storms for TikTok After US Government Ban
- Meta Hit With 390 Million Euro Fine Over EU Data Breaches
- Facebook Agrees to Pay $725 Million to Settle Privacy Suit
Latest News
- Big China Spy Balloon Moving East Over US, Pentagon Says
- Former Ubiquiti Employee Who Posed as Hacker Pleads Guilty
- Cyber Insights 2023: Venture Capital
- Atlassian Warns of Critical Jira Service Management Vulnerability
- High-Severity Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Patched in VMware Workstation
- Exploitation of Oracle E-Business Suite Vulnerability Starts After PoC Publication
- China Says It’s Looking Into Report of Spy Balloon Over US
- GoAnywhere MFT Users Warned of Zero-Day Exploit
