U.K.’s Johnson Uses Huawei for Selfies After Hinting at Ban

(Bloomberg) -- A day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted the U.K. could restrict or ban Huawei Technologies Co Ltd telecom equipment, he was seen using what appeared to be a Huawei P20 Pro smartphone -- with a shimmering Twilight color scheme.

Johnson had been speaking on U.K. broadcaster ITV's “This Morning” program, but after concluding an interview he posed for a selfie with the anchors. TV cameras briefly captured him holding a distinctive Huawei product to take the photograph.

On Wednesday at the NATO summit, Johnson said the U.K. could follow some of its international security allies by restricting or banning the Chinese company's products from its fifth generation telecommunication networks.

A representative from Huawei declined to comment. A U.K. government spokeswoman did not comment. The use of the phone was first reported by the Press Association.

Huawei has become a lightning rod for tensions between the U.S. and Europe over trade and security policy as Washington threatens reprisals against any governments that allow Chinese equipment to form part of the crucial ultra-fast networks. Bloomberg News reported in October that Britain will not making a final decision about whether domestic telecom providers will be allowed to use Huawei hardware until after the general election on Dec. 12.

“I don't want this country to be unnecessarily hostile to investment from overseas,” Johnson told a news conference after hosting the NATO summit. “On the other hand, we cannot prejudice our vital national security interest. Nor can we prejudice our ability to co-operate with our Five-Eyes security partners and that will be the key criteria that informs our decision.”

Of the so-called Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing nations, New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. have effectively banned the company while Canada and U.K. have not so-far followed suit.

--With assistance from Kitty Donaldson and Thomas Penny.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nate Lanxon in London at nlanxon@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs

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