Boris Johnson Should ‘Reconsider’ Huawei Ban Following Trump ‘Defeat’, Threatens Chinese Tech Giant

A logo of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is seen next to a Chinese flag in Shanghai on October
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

The vice-president of Chinese telecom giant Huawei has warned that the United Kingdom cannot afford to keep the Chinese technology out of its 5G network, arguing that Prime Minister Boris Johnson should reconsider his decision against the company following the possible ousting of President Donald Trump.

Huawei has expanded its efforts to “reset” relationships with Western powers on Monday, calling on the British government to return to its roots as the birthplace of the “first Industrial Revolution”, claiming that it was on track to “lead the digital revolution” by joining forces with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) linked company.

In July, Boris Johnson’s government banned on Huawei equipment from its 5G networks pledged to phase out all Huawei tech from the country’s infrastructure by the year 2027.

In an interview with the left-wing British paper The Guardian, Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang said: “I hope the government will keep an open mind and, once they review the economic consequences, look to see if there is a better way forward.”

Zhang went on to claim that “the decision was a political one motivated by US perceptions of Huawei and not those of the UK. This is not really motivated by security, but about a trade war between the US and China.”

He said that the company is hoping that tensions between China and the United States will lighten should Joe Biden ascend to the White House.

This follows Huawei’s chief technology officer Paul Scanlan saying that when there “is a change in government, there is always the opportunity to reset relationships.”

Last week, foreign ministry spokesman for the Chinese dictatorship Wang Wenbin offered congratulations to the former Vice President — despite not having been certified the winner in the election — welcoming the prospect of their “old friend” returning to power.

The Huawei VP cited research from the London-based analyst firm Assembly, which he characterised as an “independent” third-party research firm. The report claimed that the decision to delay the 5G rollout by kicking out Huawei would have an £18.2bn impact and therefore the UK could not afford to continue without the Chinese company.

“The research shows it will widen the north-south digital divide. In the north, the broadband carriage and speeds are already far behind London and the south-east. The delay in developing 5G will worsen the situation. The government is committed to superfast broadband by 2025, and with this decision the objective of levelling up becomes unachievable,” Zhang said.

Contrary to Zhang’s claims of “independent” analysis, Assembly’s own website lists Huawei as one of its chief clients.

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage said in response to the interview that “this is the first warning sign that if Trump goes then China will continue their takeover.”

“Will our government resist? I doubt it,” Farage lamented.

Following the reports that the British government was planning on ousting Huawei from its 5G network, a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the China Daily, released an editorial in May threatening that the “UK will pay price if it carries out decision to exclude Huawei,”  adding that the decision would “almost certainly” result in a “retaliatory responses from Beijing”.

“Since the Chinese government has attached great significance to the way Huawei is treated overseas, and literally taken it increasingly as a test stone of bilateral ties, its reaction to such a decision should be easy to predict,” the article threatened.

Huwaei has consistently claimed that it is not run by the Chinese Communist Party, however, the Trump administration warned ally nations, including the UK, in February that the company has the ability to create “back door” access for the CCP in its mobile networks in foreign countries.

Further casting doubt on claims of independence from the communist party, a 2019 research paper conducted by George Washington University in conjunction with Fulbright University Vietnam revealed that Huawei is 99 per cent owned by a “trade union committee” in China.

“Given the public nature of trade unions in China, if the ownership stake of the trade union committee is genuine, and if the trade union and its committee function as trade unions generally function in China, then Huawei may be deemed effectively state-owned,” the report claimed.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here: @KurtZindulka

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