US allies drawn into Huawei fight

The U.S. has reportedly warned Germany that it would no longer fully share intelligence information with the European ally as it has in the past if the country works with Huawei to boost its domestic tech infrastructure, signaling American officials are willing to put long-standing relationships on the line as they raise concerns about the company’s alleged ties to Chinese intelligence agencies.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are applauding the move, arguing that kind of action is necessary to protect U.S. secrets from China. And it could set the tone for the Trump administration’s stance with allies when it comes to Chinese tech firms: It’s us or them.

“It would make sense that there would be a concern of what we share with any partners would find its way back to Chinese intelligence,” Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), a member of the House Intelligence Committee who has been highly critical of Huawei, said that sharing any information that could go back to China is “a risk that’s going to be evaluated.”

The Trump administration’s standoff with Chinese tech giant Huawei is entering a new phase, one that could put existing intelligence-sharing agreements with U.S. allies at risk.

“We just can’t risk giving Xi Jinping that kind of information,” Conaway said of the Chinese president.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told authorities in Berlin that the U.S. would start to withhold information from German intelligence officials if the nation worked with Huawei technology.

Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, is seen as a global leader when it comes to emerging technologies like 5G networks, which are expected to be faster and reach far more people than existing mobile networks.

U.S. officials and policymakers argue that Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government make it a national security threat. But Huawei is fighting back against that assertion.