Today, Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10), Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, released the following statement supporting the UK’s decision to prevent the inclusion of new Huawei equipment in the UK 5G network and the goal of removing all Huawei equipment from the network by 2027:
“The UK has now reached the same conclusion that the US has: China is a surveillance state and its telecommunications companies cannot be further integrated into our networks. As a Five Eyes partner, we rely on the UK for our special relationship and its intelligence. Likewise, we share our intelligence with them. Huawei’s inclusion in the UK 5G network directly puts at risk the ability of the Five Eyes alliance to continue as it has since World War II. Today’s announcement alleviates the US’s critical concern that any information shared with the UK would inadvertently be shared with the Chinese Communist Party through Huawei’s inclusion in its 5G network. I congratulate Tobias Ellwood, House of Commons Defence Committee Chair, for his leadership and appreciate our ability to work directly together on this issue. I look forward to collaborating with him further as the UK begins the process of removing Huawei from its telecommunications operations.”
Turner has been worked as part of the effort by the US to encourage the UK to not allow Huawei into its 5G network. Most recently, Turner testified before the House of Commons Defence Committee in June to discuss the security of the UK’s 5G networks. He testified that “our Five Eyes relationship can certainly be threatened [by the inclusion of Huawei in the UK 5G network] as [the US and UK] share some of our most classified and important intelligence information, including operations, future capabilities and intelligence gathering.” Defence Committee Chair Tobias Ellwood remarked during the hearing that Turner has “been very vocal that [he] does not want Britain to use Huawei,” and thanked Turner “for sharing the views of the United States.” Chair Ellwood added, “There is no doubt that we feel the pressure from the United States” to eliminate Huawei from the UK’s 5G network.
To watch the full testimony, click here.
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