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Critic of UK decision to ban Huawei from 5G networks to be replaced by China’s vice-foreign ministerChina’s long-serving envoy to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, a staunch defender of closer UK-China economic ties and the imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong, is standing down, marking the end of an era in relations between the two countries that hit a high in 2015 but has...

‘Geopolitical’ factors were behind the move, the company was told, with hints that the decision could be reversed in futureThe British government privately told the Chinese technology giant Huawei that it was being banned from Britain’s 5G telecoms network partly for “geopolitical” reasons following huge pressure from President Donald Trump, the Observer has learned.In the days leading up to the controversial announcement on Tuesday...

U-turn puts Boris Johnson on collision course with Tory rebels on timing of banHuawei is to be stripped out of Britain’s 5G phone networks by 2027, a date that puts Boris Johnson on collision course with a group of Conservative rebels who want the Chinese company eliminated quicker and more comprehensively.Oliver Dowden, the UK culture secretary, also announced that no new Huawei 5G kit...

GCHQ believed to be advising Boris Johnson that Chinese firm poses higher security riskThe UK is poised to end the use of Huawei technology in its 5G network as soon as this year because of security concerns, according to reports.The prime minister, Boris Johnson, is set to make a major policy change after GCHQ is believed to have reassessed the risks posed by the...

Researchers find coordinated effort to promote conspiracy theory that coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered by ChinaMisinformation about the origins of Covid-19 is far more likely to be spread by pro-Trump, QAnon or Republican bots on Twitter than any other source, according to a study commissioned by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology.In late March, when the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold in the...

Conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to coronavirus have resulted in dozens of phone masts across the UK being vandalised in recent weeks. Theories about the dangers of 5G had already been circulating, despite regulators confirming that the radiation levels of the new technology are well within safe boundaries. So how did the conspiracy incorrectly linking it to 5G start? And is 5G really dangerous?...

Jonathon James is previously unidentified individual who reached millions with false claims about Covid-19Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA recording spread around the world at the end of March, purportedly featuring a former Vodafone executive claiming to let the public in on a secret that the coronavirus pandemic is cover for a global plot to install 5G mobile phone masts, track the...

Industry body assures people in open letter there is no link between 5G and pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAt least 20 mobile phone masts across the UK are believed to have been torched or otherwise vandalised since Thursday, according to government and industry sources who are increasingly concerned about the impact of baseless theories linking coronavirus to 5G networks.There have been...

Decision comes as four more phone masts are attackedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageYouTube will reduce the amount of content spreading conspiracy theories about links between 5G technology and coronavirus that it recommends to users, it has said, as four more attacks were recorded on phone masts within 24 hours.The online video company will actively remove videos that breach its policies, it...

No scientific evidence that technology poses threat to human health, say experts5G is safe, according to the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation, which has updated its advisory guidelines for the first time in more than 20 years.The International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the Germany-based scientific body that assesses the health risks of radio broadcasts, called for...

Conservative doubters invited to meeting with senior security expert in effort to allay fearsThe government made a last-ditch attempt on Monday to head off a potential Conservative rebellion over the Chinese telecoms provider Huawei, drafting in a security expert to try to reassure anxious MPs.Tories were invited to a meeting in parliament with Dr Ian Levy, the technical director of the National Cyber Security...

Group of eight rebels call for Huawei to be removed from UK networks by end of 2022A group of eight Conservative rebel MPs, including four former cabinet ministers, have put down an amendment calling on the government to eliminate all Huawei technology from the UK’s mobile phone networks by the end of 2022.Led by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson, David Davis and Damian...

Mick Mulvaney is expected to demand that UK drop Huawei from 5G networksDonald Trump’s acting chief of staff is set to meet Dominic Cummings in Downing Street on Wednesday, when he is expected to demand that the UK rethinks its decision to allow Huawei a role in supplying 5G technology.The critical meeting between Mick Mulvaney and Johnson’s chief aide comes amid speculation that the...

Senior Tories consider trying to force Commons vote on tighter restrictions for Chinese firmAll today’s UK politics news – liveBoris Johnson is facing a possible rebellion over his decision to allow China’s Huawei to build part of Britain’s 5G infrastructure.Senior Tories are examining whether they could try to force a Commons vote on tightening restrictions on Huawei or reduce the cap on its market...

PM says solution will allow technological progress but not jeopardise US relationshipBoris Johnson has suggested he will arrive at a compromise solution over the decision on whether to let the Chinese company Huawei build parts of the UK’s 5G network in the face of US warnings that it would compromise intelligence-sharing.During a university visit, the prime minister hinted that he would give Huawei some...

US discusses concerns over Chinese telecoms giant’s role in Britain’s future 5G network Donald Trump discussed the security of telecommunications networks with Boris Johnson, the White House said, as Britain closes in on a decision on Huawei’s role in the country’s future 5G network.The US administration told allies not to allow the Chinese tech giant to form part of their 5G networks, claiming it...

Whitehall sources complain that despite lobbying, US has not proposed viable alternativeThe UK is frustrated that the US has not been able to come up with a “plan B” alternative solution that would allow Britain not to use Huawei technology in future 5G phone networks.Whitehall sources complain that despite intense lobbying by Donald Trump’s administration against the Chinese company, Washington has not been able...