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Nato chief warns Britain over Huawei risk

By AFP
May 15, 2019

LONDON: The head of Nato told Britain on Tuesday it must preserve secure mobile networks as it weighs the risks of allowing China to help develop its 5G infrastructure.

Jens Stoltenberg´s comments in London came in the middle of a furious British government debate over whether to let Huawei roll out its next-generation mobile service. The private Chinese firm currently has the most advanced and cheapest 5G capacities in the world. But the United States has warned its close ally that it might have to limit security and intelligence sharing with Britain if it allowed China to play a significant role. Washington´s broader geopolitical concerns have been heightened by a law enacted by Beijing in 2017 obliging Chinese companies to aid the government on national security issues. Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting later Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May that network security remained of utmost importance to the Western military alliance.