Washington is going to re-evaluate its policy of sharing intelligence with European allies that have decided to use Chinese Huawei equipment in their 5G networks, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber, International Communications, and Information Policy Robert Strayer said on 29 April. He claimed that using equipment from an "untrustworthy vendor" in any form compromises the entire network.
"If other countries insert and allow untrusted vendors to build out and become the vendors for their 5G networks we will have to reassess the ability for us to share information and be connected with them in the ways that we are today", he said.
Earlier, reports surfaced that the UK had decided to allow Huawei equipment to be used in non-core elements of its 5G network; however, Strayer stated that Washington won't differentiate between core and no-core aspects when making its decision to limit intelligence sharing.
The UK is not the only US ally in Europe to allow the Chinese giant's 5G equipment to be used. Jochen Homann, director of Germany's Federal Network Agency — Bundesnetzagentur, said that his agency would not bar Huawei from the country, as it had been given no indications that the Chinese company was spying on its clients. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also defended the tech giant by saying that the bloc won't ban Huawei just because it "is Chinese".
READ MORE: China to UK Amid 5G Leak Row: Don't Discriminate Against Huawei
The US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have combined their intelligence services' efforts in a programme called the Five Eyes, which stipulates the sharing of useful intel and joint espionage operations, which have allegedly sometimes been used to bypass national surveillance laws.
