LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday granted China’s Huawei a limited role in Britain’s 5G mobile network, resisting U.S. pressure to exclude the company from next generation communications on fears China could use it to steal secrets.
In the biggest test of his post-Brexit foreign policy to date, Johnson ruled that “high-risk vendors” would be allowed into the “non-sensitive” parts of 5G networks, but their involvement would be capped at 35%.
They would be excluded from the sensitive core of networks, where data is processed, and banned from all critical networks and sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases, the government said.
The decision will dismay President Donald Trump’s administration which fears China could use Huawei to steal secrets and which has warned that if London gives Huawei a role then it could scale back intelligence cooperation.
“This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now,” Communications Secretary Nicky Morgan said following a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Johnson.
Huawei was not mentioned by name in the British government’s statement, but British cyber security officials said they had always treated the company as a “high risk” vendor.
The White House and U.S. state department did not immediately respond for a request to comment.
Huawei, though, was happy.
“Huawei is reassured by the UK government’s confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track,” said Victor Zhang, Vice-President, Huawei.
“This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market.”
Sources told Reuters last week senior British officials had proposed granting Huawei a limited role in the 5G network – a “calculated compromise” which could be presented to Washington as a tough restriction but also accepted by British operators already using the company’s equipment.
Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, says the United States wants it blocked from Britain’s 5G network because no U.S. company can offer the same range of technology at a competitive price.
The United States has argued that as 5G technology evolves, the distinction between the “edge” and “core” will blur as data is processed throughout the network, making it difficult to contain any security risks.
Huawei’s equipment is already used by Britain’s biggest telecoms companies such as BT (BT.L) and Vodafone (VOD.L), but it has been largely deployed at the “edge” of the network and excluded in the “core” where data is processed.
Source: Reuters
Aerial photo taken on Jan. 25, 2020 shows the snow scenery of Hezhang County in Bijie, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. (Photo by Han Xianpu/Xinhua)
Police patrol in the temperature of minus 37 degrees Celsius near Beiji Village in Mohe, China’s northernmost city in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 24, 2020. On the Chinese New Year Eve, a traditional time for family reunion across China, many people chose to fulfill their duty on the posts. (Photo by Zhu Fuchao/Xinhua)
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
Laurence Fox apologises to Sikhs for ‘clumsy’ 1917 comment
Laurence Fox has apologised for comments he made about the inclusion of a Sikh soldier in a World War One film.
The actor had previously referred to “the oddness in the casting” of a Sikh soldier in Sir Sam Mendes’ movie 1917.
“Fellow humans who are Sikhs, I am as moved by the sacrifices your relatives made as I am by the loss of all those who die in war, whatever creed or colour,” Fox tweeted.
“Please accept my apology for being clumsy in the way I expressed myself.”
His original comments attracted widespread criticism and historians drew attention to the contribution of Sikhs in the British Army during World War One.
About 130,000 Sikh men took part in the war, making up 20% of the British Indian Army, according to the WW1 Sikh Memorial Fund.
End of Twitter post by @LozzaFox
“Even in 1917 they’ve done it with a Sikh soldier, which is great, it’s brilliant, but you’re suddenly aware there were Sikhs fighting in this war. And you’re like ‘OK, you’re now diverting me away from what the story is’.”
The former Lewis star also responded to Delingpole’s comments about film-makers “shoehorning” people of different ethnicities into dramas.
Fox said: “It is kind of racist – if you talk about institutional racism, which is what everyone loves to go on about, which I’m not a believer in, there is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way. You don’t want to think about [that].’
Former Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati responded with an image of Sikh soldiers and queried the inclusion of just one in the film.
End of Twitter post by @ShobnaGulati
Presenter Piers Morgan told Fox his comments were “insulting to solders who had served” and were “an unfortunate thing to have said” and co-host Susanna Reid added: “Sikhs fought with British forces, not just with their own regiments – it’s a historical fact.”
Morgan said he had agreed with other things Fox had said in the last two weeks, referring to the actor’s high-profile appearance on BBC One’s Question Time.
The actor clashed with audience member Rachel Boyle, a university lecturer and race and ethnicity researcher, who said the way Meghan Markle had been treated in the press was “racist”.
Fox responded to her by saying: “It’s not racism, we’re the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe. It’s so easy to throw the charge of racism at everybody and it’s really starting to get boring now.”
Footage of Fox’s appearance was widely shared on social media – with some praising his comments but others calling them offensive.
The programme received more than 250 complaints, the corporation revealed in its fortnightly report for the BBC complaints service.
The main issues cited were that the “audience [was] not representative of the local area, leading to a pro-Conservative bias” and a “discussion on racism [was] felt to be offensive”.
Source: The BBC
Posted in 'clumsy', 1917, apologises, BBC One, British Army, British forces, British Indian Army, comment, Film, Good Morning Britain, ITV, Laurence Fox, Meghan Markle, own regiments, Piers Morgan, Question Time, Sikh Memorial Fund, Sikh soldier, Sikhs, Uncategorized, World War One | Leave a Comment »