Huawei at centre of row between China and UK, US

China accused Britain on Wednesday of colluding with Washington to hurt Huawei after the Chinese tech giant was blocked from working on a British next-generation mobile phone network.

A government spokeswoman said Beijing will protect Chinese companies but gave no indication of possible retaliation.

Washington accuses Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies, of being a security risk, which the Chinese company denies. The Trump administration wants European and other allies to exclude Huawei as they upgrade to fifth-generation, or 5G, networks.

On Tuesday, the British government announced Huawei would be excluded from work on the network because U.S. sanctions made it impossible to ensure the security of Chinese-supplied equipment.

Washington last year imposed curbs on Huawei’s access to American components and other technology. In May, the Trump administration tightened controls by blocking non-U.S. companies from using American technology to produce processor chips and other components for Huawei without Washington’s approval.

Chinese officials accuse Washington of misusing national security concerns to block a rising competitor to U.S. tech suppliers.

Huawei is at the center of U.S.-Chinese conflicts over technology development and possible spying. The company’s chief financial officer is under house arrest in Canada and fighting extradition to the United States to face charges related to possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran.

Huawei is, along with Nokia Corp. of Finland and Sweden’s LM Ericsson, a leader in development of fifth-generation technology.

5G is meant to expand networks to support self-driving cars, remote surgery and other futuristic applications. That makes the technology more intrusive and sensitive politically.