MPs' bid to drop 5G Huawei network fails

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson saw off a rebellion from within his own Conservative Party on Tuesday, when an amendment that sought to ban Huawei from the nation's 5G networks was defeated in the House of Commons.

A group of Conservative MPs tabled the amendment that would phase out Huawei from UK networks by 2022, and the legislation was voted down by 306 votes to 282.

While the government prevailed, the vote saw Johnson's working majority of 87 reduced to 24, prompting Matt Warman, the minister for digital infrastructure, to assure rebel Conservatives that they had been heard "loud and clear".

"We will now engage intensively with colleagues across the House to make sure that we will make our case at every possible level," Warman said. "And we will underline that we will always put national security at the very top of our agenda."

In January, Johnson decided to permit the continued use of Huawei equipment in "non-core" — or the least sensitive — areas of British telecommunications infrastructure, and stipulated that Huawei must operate within a market share cap of 35 percent.

The move angered Washington, which has encouraged a full boycott of Huawei in the United States, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, the countries that together form the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing community.

The US has accused Huawei of participating in digital espionage on behalf of the Chinese government, something Huawei categorically denies and that the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC, has found no evidence of.

In a letter published in The Daily Telegraph, former party leader Iain Duncan Smith said that government's decision to use Huawei in the 5G network has "angered our allies and perplexed those of us who see this as an avoidable risk".

On Monday, the government sought to allay concerns by inviting the MPs to a meeting with Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC. He has previously stated that his department has not found any evidence of Chinese state maleficence.

The rebel MPs have indicated they would be satisfied if the government commits to an end date for the involvement of so-called high risk vendors in UK networks, though on Tuesday the government said it was not in a position to set out such a timetable.

Downing Street said on Monday that the government is "clear-eyed about the challenges posed by Huawei" and said that the current restrictions are sufficient to protect British networks.

Huawei is a leader in 5G technology, and digital economy consultancy Assembly Research estimates that a full boycott would delay the rollout of 5G in the UK by up to two years at a cost of 6.8 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) to the economy.

On Tuesday, Michael Rake, the former chair of major UK network operator BT, said that further restrictions on Huawei would significantly hinder Britain's 5G ambitions at a great cost to the economy.

"We cannot afford to set back the important technological and communication progress we have made, with ill-informed assertions which are not supported by the facts and the experts," said Rake, who acts as an advisor to Huawei in the UK. "The government has taken an evidence-based decision and we should all support it."