FILE PHOTO: U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton speaks during a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, U.S., May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said on Thursday it was not clear to the United States that a decision on British government policy towards Chinese telecoms firm Huawei had been taken in its final form.
“I’m not sure that this decision has reached the prime ministerial level in final form. I mean we are still talking… people are talking back and forth,” Bolton told reporters in London.
He said Huawei technology could allow “back doors” into telecoms systems and that new 5G networks were harder to separate into core and peripheral systems.
He added: “I think everybody is catching up to the dangers posed, especially in 5th-generation telecommunications systems, by equipment from Huawei and potentially others that can allow foreign governments a back door into telecommunications systems.”The United States is worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept. But British ministers have discussed allowing Huawei a restricted role in building parts of its network.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, writing by William James; editing by Stephen Addison