London — British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation over the “unacceptable” disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains. Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the US told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this. Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Britain’s national security council (NSC) has decided to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country's 5G network and restrict its access to non-core parts. The leak of information from a meeting of the NSC, first reported in national newspapers, has sparked anger in parliament because the committee’s discussion are supposed to be secret. “We cannot exclude the possibility of a criminal investigation here,” Wright said, speaking in response to an urgent question on Huawe...
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