Wednesday, 15 July 2020_British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has denied that US President Donald Trump was responsible for the UK’s 5G ban on Chinese technology giant Huawei.
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Huawei equipment to be completely purged from Britain's 5G network by the end of 2027.
Hours later, Trump claimed that what London had done was because of his effort, saying, “I did it myself.”
“We convinced many countries, many countries, I did this myself for the most part, not to use Huawei, because we think it is an unsafe security risk, it’s a big security risk,” Trump said.
Speaking on Wednesday, Hancock said that the decision was a considered one in spite of attempts by some individuals to claim credit.
“Well we all know Donald Trump don’t we,” he told Sky News. “All sorts of people can try to claim credit for the decision but this was based on a technical assessment by the National Cyber Security Centre about how we could have the highest quality 5G systems in the future.”
After Johnson ordered the ban, China censured the decision as “disappointing and politicized.”
The Chinese telecoms giant's UK spokesman Ed Brewster said London had reacted to pressure from Washington rather than security concerns.
The Huawei official said, "Regrettably, our future in the UK has become politicized, this is about US trade policy, not security."
China's ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming also denounced the decision as "disappointing and wrong,” saying, "It has become questionable whether the UK can provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from other countries.”
The ban comes nearly two weeks after London described Huawei as a potentially hostile state vendor. Beijing has warned to retaliate, threatening to open a new front in the China-UK rift.