MY WAY OR HUAWEI
PM is braced for a clash with Donald Trump over Huawei deal after President’s threat that America could ‘CUT intelligence links with UK’
THERESA May is braced for a major clash with Donald Trump over Huawei after his UK ambassador warned of consequences if it is given a role in building Britain’s 5G network.
Just hours before she is due to welcome the US President to London, Woody Johnson ridiculed her decision to allow the Chinese tech giant to build antennae and other “non-core” infrastructure.
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He warned that allowing Huawei any access at all would mean “the Chinese are completely in” on the highly sensitive next generation of internet infrastructure.
And in a thinly-veiled warning that Britain would be punished over the move, he said the impact on US-UK intelligence sharing is “to be determined”.
In an interview, Mr Trump urged Britain to pursue "alternatives" to Huawei technology.
The warnings came as:
- A multi-million pound security operation is under way as the President, his family and an entourage of 1,000 arrive in the UK this morning for a three-day state visit.
- Theresa May pleaded with the British public to welcome Trump because of the importance of Britain’s ‘Special Relationship’ with the US
- But thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets – including Labour frontbenchers – and a giant inflatable Trump baby blimp is expected to fly over London again
- Trump said he would consider holding back vital intelligence with the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes PM
Theresa May pleaded with the public to welcome Donald Trump as thousands prepared to join a mass protest in central London to coincide with his arrival at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen will welcome Mr Trump at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace gardens rather than the usual horse-drawn carriage procession usually afforded to foreign heads of state due to security concerns.
Mrs May was keen to stress the importance of Britain’s security partnership with the US as she urged the public to recognise the importance of the ‘Special Relationship’ despite opposition to Trump.
She said: “Our relationship has underpinned our countries’ security and prosperity for many years – and will continue to do so for generations to come.
“We do more together than any other nations in the world. We are the largest investors in each other’s economies and our strong trading relationship and close business links create jobs, opportunities and wealth for our citizens.
Look, national security is so important, so we all have to be very careful together. And [the] UK understands that very well. Very well
Donald Trump
“Our security relationship too is deeper, broader and more advanced than with anyone else. Through joint military operations, unrivalled intelligence-sharing and our commitment to NATO, our global leadership remains at the heart of international peace and stability.”
But relations are set to be tested after Mr Trump used an interview with the Sunday Times yesterday to urge Britain to pursue “alternatives” to Huawei in building its 5G network and warned the Government to be "very careful" over the Chinese firm's involvement.
In a clear warning that the US could cut security ties with the UK over the decision, Mr Trump said: "We have been very, very open with your country having to do with security measures and intelligence.
"That is why we say it is very important that they study that situation very carefully.
"You know what has happened with Huawei, you know we have a very important intelligence gathering group, that we work very closely with your country and so you have to be very careful."
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The Sun Says — Art of No Deal
DONALD Trump may not have actually written his book on deal-making but he could certainly teach our outgoing Prime Minister a thing or two about negotiation.
Taking No Deal off the table was the beginning of the end of our hopes for a change to the dreaded Irish backstop.
Aided and abetted by her hopeless Chancellor, Theresa May failed to prepare for a clean break and gave the EU the confidence to push and push the UK into a corner, knowing we had no realistic way out.
Each and every leadership candidate — all 13 of them — needs to make clear how they would prepare for No Deal. Contrary to the nonsense pushed out by Remainers, it is still very much an option. The closer we get to our Halloween exit day, the more spooked Parliamentarians will get.
After all, the Brexit Party landslide at the European elections and the polling which puts them TOP in a Westminster vote is all the proof they need that the public is ready to turn our two-party system upside down.
Don’t deliver Brexit? Go back to Brussels begging for an extension?
That’ll spell the end of Labour and Tories as our two biggest political forces.
Donald Trump on May's handling of Brexit
HUAWEI NETWORK RISK
He added: "Look, national security is so important, so we all have to be very careful together. And [the] UK understands that very well. Very well."
He was backed up by his ambassador yesterday, who warned Britain that her decision to allow Huawei access to the 5G network would pose a “big risk” to crucial US-UK intelligence sharing.
In a withering verdict on Mrs May’s willingness to give the Chinese firm a role in 5G, he said: “There’s no such thing as the centre, the core or the outlying areas. It’s all one big thing.
“So you can’t have, as I understand it, you can’t have antennas all over and think that they’re not part of it.
“So you’ve got a big risk about both security and prosperity in building something with a country where the government can call up and say, ‘I want this information, I want it now,’ and the company has to respond.”
We'd never take a decision that affected our intelligence sharing capability with the United States
Jeremy Hunt
Officially the UK Government insists no decision has been taken over giving Huawei limited access to help build 5G infrastructure but Mrs May sacked her Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson after he leaked details of the decision from a private National Security Council meeting in April.
And The Sun revealed that UK security chiefs are considering whether the controversial company’s involvement in the multi-billion pound network could be restricted to allay security concerns.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted the Government was taking US warnings “very seriously” but said it was important to consider moving closer to China as it becomes more open.
He told CBS: “We have some of the best cyber security capability in the world and we'd never take a decision that affected our intelligence sharing capability with the United States.
“And we have to look at the technical issues which are around whether buying products from a specific country could be a backdoor to espionage. And we're looking at those very carefully but we also have to look at the strategic issue which is that China's being very open.
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“They've said they want to have a- an 80 percent market share of telecoms technology and in other areas like artificial intelligence, they want a 90 percent market share by 2025.
“And we have to ask as Western countries whether it's wise to allow one country to have such a commanding monopoly in the technologies that we're all of us going to be depending on. So those are very, very important discussions that we- we continue to have.”
Foreign Secretary declared Britain would "never" harm the crucial intelligence-sharing partnership with the US.
Home Secretary and leadership contender Sajid Javid backed America's opposition to Huawei, saying: "I would not want any company, whichever country it’s from, that has a high degree of control by a foreign government to have access to our very sensitive telecommunications network."
And he also made it clear he would bar the Chinese tech firm from crucial infrastructure.
He told the Andrew Marr Show: "I would not want any company, whicever country it's from, that has a high degree of control by a foreign government to have access to our very sensitive telecommunications network."
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