The U. S. government has sent a warning to Germany that it may limit what information is handed over via intelligence-sharing agreements if the latter country allows Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to build its next-generation 5G networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The U. S. government has sent a warning to Germany that it may limit what information is handed over via intelligence-sharing agreements if the latter country allows Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to build its next-generation 5G networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
U. S. intelligence officials have been issuing warnings for years that Huawei technology could possibly be co-opted by the Chinese government for espionage purposes, though they have never publicly released hard evidence and Huawei has repeatedly issued denials. In a letter to the German economic minister, U. S. Ambassador to Germany Richard A. Grenell wrote that intelligence sharing will be pared back if Huawei is allowed to participate in 5G networks, the Journal wrote:
The central concern appears to be that if Huawei networking gear is used in German 5G networks, then they will no longer be secure against Chinese intrusion. Further, the U. S. likely needs its allies to support the pushback against Huawei in order for the isolation tactic to have any meaningful effect. The U. S. has additional concerns about the use of Chinese personnel, such as whether Huawei will allow oversight from security services, according to the paper.
