The U.K. is planning to remove Huawei Electronics Co. Ltd. equipment from its 5G networks following a decision by the government that the equipment presents security risks according, to a report today from Bloomberg.

The U.K. government, unique among close U.S. allies, decided to allow Huawei equipment to be used in 5G rollouts in January with the exception that the company’s equipment would be excluded from core parts of 5G networks because of security concerns. Alongside the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Taiwan currently ban the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks, while Canada has yet to make up its mind.

The backflip on the decision to allow Huawei equipment in U.K. 5G networks hasn’t yet been announced and officials reportedly are drawing up plans for the removal of the equipment.

Although the decision by the U.K. government to allow Huawei equipment was strongly opposed by the U.S. on security grounds, the path to the U.K. backflip came about because of U.S. sanctions rather than direct pressure from the U.S. The change is said to have been prompted by an assessment from the U.K. National Cybersecurity Center, which concluded that U.S. sanctions mean that Huawei would have to use untrusted technology — in this case, non-U.S. technology that could lead to security risks.

The decision to pull Huawei equipment from U.K. networks comes amid rising global tensions not only between the U.S. and China but also between China and U.S. allies. The U.K. has been threatened by China in the last week over its decision to offer residency to some 3 million people in Hong Kong who have British national overseas status following the imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong.

“China strongly condemns this and reserves the right to take further measures,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said. “The British side will bear all the consequences.” The U.K. pulling Huawei equipment is likely to inflame those tensions.

The decision will also be another blow to Huawei, which once had global ambitions and has always been near the forefront of 5G technology development. In its last annual financial report in March, Huawei reported that profit growth was slowing amid U.S. trade bans.

Photo: Duncan Riley