Despite pressure from the U.S., the U.K. has decided to allow Huawei to play a limited role in the advancement of their 5G networks. They'll be excluded from areas near military bases and military sites and there will be limitations on the amount of kit they can provide in a network's periphery.
"The prime minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies," Downing Street announced.
The U.S. position, on the other hand, seems to be that China isn't a like-minded country at all. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview on The Fox Business Network, "Look, the Chinese behavior is aggressive along every dimension of international power... they're also commercially engaged in predatory economic practices" He said that his department had been "out around the world" to make sure "countries understand... The risk to privacy from this technology is very, very real."
According to Downing Street, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been in contact with President Donald Trump to explain this decision.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that there wasn't anything in the U.K.'s review of the firm that would affect the U.K.'s "ability to share highly-sensitive intelligence data over highly-secure networks both within the U.K. and our partners."
In a statement on the decision released by the tech firm, Victor Zhang, Vice-President of Huawei said the company was "reassured by the U.K. government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track."
"It gives the U.K. access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market," said Zhang.
Before this decision was reached, Beijing made it clear that an outright ban of Huawei would result in "substantial" repercussions.
In the U.S., concern about this decision is bi-partisan. Tom Cotton, a Republican Senator on the US Senate Intelligence Committee tweeted, "This decision is deeply disappointing for American supporters of the Special Relationship. I fear London has freed itself from Brussels only to cede sovereignty to Beijing." On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Senator and vice-chair of the same committee Mark Warner said he was "disappointed by the U.K.'s decision today, especially since the security risks are so well understood."
Under Chinese law, all firms must "support, co-operate with and collaborate in national intelligence work." Huawei does have a Communist Party committee, but they say all companies operating in China have to have such a committee in place.
Huawei's response to American distrust has been emphatic: "Our company will never undertake any spying activities. If we have any such actions, then I'll shut the company down," Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, told the BBC. He warned that the world can't afford to move on without them because they are "more advanced".
"If the lights go out in the West, the East will still shine. And if the North goes dark, there is still the South. America doesn't represent the world. America only represents a portion of the world."
Despite concerns coming from the U.S., some industry-watchers believe this decision was the best the U.K. could make. Stephane Teral from IHS Markit told the BBC, "I think it's a pragmatic decision that brings stability and continuity in the 5G ecosystem... A ban would have been disastrous."
The U.S., Australia, and Japan each banned Huawei kit from being used in 5G telecommunications networks, but other countries may follow the U.K.'s example. Now, New Zealand and Canada are expected to allow the firm to contribute to their 5G networks in some restricted way.
