The head of GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency, has become the latest British spy chief to voice concerns over the threat posed by Chinese technology.
As Huawei battles to convince the US and other western nations that its products and telecoms equipment do not pose a security risk, Jeremy Fleming said yesterday that the UK needed greater understanding of the implications of Beijing’s technological ambitions. “We have to understand the opportunities and threats from China’s technological offer,” he told the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.
“Understand the global nature of supply chains and service provision irrespective of the flag of the supplier. Take a clear view on the implications of China’s technological acquisition strategy in the west. And help our governments decide which parts of this expansion can be embraced, which need risk management and which will always need a sovereign or allied solution.”