(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson is planning to reduce Huawei Technologies Co.'s involvement in the U.K.'s fifth-generation mobile networks in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Telegraph reported, citing unidentified sources.
The British prime minister instructed officials to draw up plans under which China's involvement in the country's 5G infrastructure would be scaled down to zero by 2023, according to the newspaper. Downing Street declined to comment to the Telegraph.
“We've seen the reports from unnamed sources which simply don't make sense,” Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang said in an emailed statement. “Our priority has been to help mobile and broadband companies keep Britain connected, which in this current health crisis has been more vital than ever.”
China's handling of the pandemic has triggered calls from prominent members of the ruling Conservative Party for a rethink of the U.K.'s push for closer ties with China after former Tory Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a “golden era” in 2015.
Johnson's government had decided in January to give Huawei a limited role in 5G wireless networks and fiber, while capping its market share and restricting it from the network core, which sees and controls sensitive information.
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