German stance on 5G security a ‘positive step’, says US official
But Germany has opposed a ban on Huawei, despite US concerns and trying to get Germany to kowtow to banning the Chinese tech giant
London — The US wants foreign governments to follow Germany in adopting stricter security standards for next-generation 5G telecoms networks, a US cyber-security official said on Wednesday, adding that doing so would effectively rule out the use of Chinese equipment vendors. Last month, Germany set tougher criteria for vendors supplying network equipment, stopping short of singling out China’s Huawei Technologies for special treatment and instead saying the same rules should apply to all vendors. The German decision is seen as a blow to Washington, which has led efforts to get Western governments to ban market-leader Huawei due to concerns its equipment could be used to support Chinese state spying. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations. However, Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber-policy, international-communications and information policy at the US state department, said Washington approved of the German move. “We have encouraged countries to adopt risk-bas...
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