China's telecoms giant Huawei is going through difficult times. Reportedly, the UK government has announced plans to bar Huawei from building its 5G network infrastructure. Experts believe that this decision is more political rather than economical as a tech battle between China and the West escalates more and more.
Huawei Technologies executives have asked for a meeting with the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoping to delay its potential removal from fifth-generation mobile networks until 2025. Notably, China’s tech giant desperately wants to get this delay approval as this year, general elections the UK Parliament will take place. Therefore, the company hopes that a new government that comes into power will be more pliable and reverse the decision.
Analysts think that the company's representatives are unlikely to reach an agreement with the British Prime Minister as he is taking a harder line against Beijing. Earlier, Boris Johnson had faced political pressure from the United States and a number of British lawmakers demanding to impose a ban on the use of Huawei equipment. Huawei has been accused of espionage for the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, the company has been unable to clear its reputation. This is why many countries doubt its credibility and safety.
Nevertheless, some UK lawmakers pinpoint that Huawei offers quite advantageous conditions e.g. it will provide full technical support for its equipment in the UK during the 5G network construction. Huawei's equipment is used in 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
In January 2020, the UK authorities decided to grant Huawei a limited role in the UK's future 5G network, considering China's tech company a security risk. So, the UK has joined the US battle against the company.
