The European Commission will this week call for the bloc’s 28 countries to provide data to help map and then close possible vulnerabilities if they choose Huawei or other Chinese suppliers to build critical communications systems, diplomats say.
The move is in line with the national strategies of many EU member states but at odds with pressure from Washington to shut out Chinese companies from sensitive areas of electronic infrastructure. US officials have warned that a European embrace of Huawei could undermine transatlantic military and intelligence co-operation.
“Huawei technology is good and it’s cheap – the only problem is it’s Chinese,” said one EU diplomat of the European view. “The approach will be, let’s see how we can somehow manage the security risks. This is clearly the direction we are going in.”