Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that protecting data online is critical to national sovereignty, protection that is not compatible with Huawei technology.
The United Kingdom is said to be considering allowing Huawei technology into its 5G network, something the Trump Administration has apparently concluded should not happen either here or abroad given how connected world data flows have become.
Related: Tom Ridge Says Huawei Should Be Nowhere Near 5G
In a tweet Sunday (Jan. 26), Pompeo associated himself with that sentiment as expressed by a conservative member of Parliament:
[embed]https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1221485901525803008[/embed]
According to the BBC, the UK government plans to decide Tuesday (Jan. 28) on whether or not to exclude Huawei from its 5G buildout on the grounds that it is a national security threat, or instead whether to exclude it only from the ":core" of the network..
Those national security grounds are the same ones that the FCC cited in excluding it from broadband subsidy money and the Congress cited for excluding it from government contracts.
Huawei has said it is not tied to the Chinese government and has challenged the FCC's designation of its tech as a security threat.
Pompeo back in May said Huawei was a security threat and suggested that the U.S. might not be able to share data with the UK if Huawei was not barred from its 5G buildout.
The Trump Administration's relationship with the company has been complicated. While it has taken steps to block suspect tech, there has been bipartisan concern that the Administration was using Huawei's status as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with the country, particularly after the Department of Commerce extended for another 90 days (through mid-February, the license that allows U.S. companies to continue to supply tech--like chips--to Huawei--and after Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News that while he agreed Huawei is a national security threat, he would not say that Huawei's status was off the table in trade talks.
