China syndromeU.K.: Tory MPs Rebel against Government’s Huawei’s Plan

The U.K. government has launched an all-hands-on-deck effort to contain a growing rebellion by Tory MPs who want to ban the use of Huawei’s equipment in the U.K. 5G telecoms network, arguing that allowing the Chinese company, with its close ties to China’s intelligence and military establishments, any access to the country’s communication infrastructure would be like inviting a fox to guard the hen house.

Cabinet ministers and technical experts from the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) on Monday met Tory MPs in an effort to convince them to withdraw their objections to the involvement of the Chinese company in British infrastructure.

Not all NCSC experts agree with the agency’s top brass that the Chinese risk can be managed by restricting Huawei’s access to the “edge,” rather than the “core,” of the networks, and allowing only 35 percent of the network’s components to be purchased from Huawei.

Independent technical experts argue that these limitations are irrelevant in the context of 5G technology, and that the notion that these restrictions can somehow limit China’s intelligence services from spying on all communications carried over Huawei-supplied networks is fanciful at best.

Even supporters of the government’s proposed Huawei deal admit the contemplated restrictions will not limit Huawei’s ability to shut down entire communication networks if ordered to do so by the government in Beijing. This would allow China a considerable leverage over any political, economic, or military decision by the British government.

The Monday meeting between NCSC officials and the rebel MPs did not go well. One Tory MP present at a meeting with security officials told The Times that it had been a “car crash” and that the number of rebels had grown.

“Tory MPs who had been on the fence came out of the meeting saying they were going to back the amendment,” the MP said. “It totally backfired.”

Telecomsreports that twenty-six Tory MPs have signed an amendment to the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill 2019-20,which, if selected, will go to a vote Tuesday afternoon.

The rebels’ amendment would require that all use of Huawei in Britain’s 5G network is phased out by 2022

A similar bill, with broad bipartisan support, is now being debated in Congress. The legislation aims to protect American communications networks from threats presented by foreign suppliers like Huawei and ZTE. The “rip and replace” part of the legislation would offer relief to reimburse smaller telecommunications providers – largely in rural areas – by reimbursing them for the costs of removing and replacing untrusted foreign equipment (see “Bipartisan Bill Would Reimburse Telcoms for Replacing Huawei’s, ZTE’s Equipment, HSNW, 2 March 2020).

The government has a comfortable majority of more than 75 MPs, and the rebels admit that their ranks will likely not grow enough to defeat the government’s motion, but that they will come close.

Ian Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader and now a leader of rebel group, described the rebellion as a “warning shot” before the government tables its own legislation in the summer on Huawei’s involvement.

Iain Duncan Smith said: “The majority of Conservative MPs are deeply disquieted by our reliance on Huawei for our telecoms services.

“The government is beginning to recognize how deep this concern goes, not just among MPs but around the House of Commons and in the general public. There is a growing realization that the present position cannot be sustained.”

In an article last month in The Telegraph, Ian Duncan Smith wrote:

[The government’s decision] makes no logical sense. It is inconceivable that such a decision should be made in the face of all the evidence of the threat that China poses to us and our allies.

….

I believe that the best course for the Government, given that it has inherited the existing involvement of Huawei, is to plan to clear the firm out of our systems as quickly as possible. Defence of the realm is the Government’s number one priority, and this includes cyberspace. There can be no room in our systems for companies such as Huawei.