When the UK decided this week to give China’s Huawei a role in its new generation of telecoms infrastructure, a prominent American senator was forthright in his denunciation.

“Allowing Huawei to build the UK’s 5G networks today is like allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the cold war,” said Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas. “The Chinese Communist party will now have a foothold to conduct pervasive espionage on British society and has increased economic and political leverage over the United Kingdom.”

Even the UK government, in its justification for its decision, acknowledged that Huawei was a controversial choice. Dominic Raab, foreign secretary, described the Chinese telecoms company as a “high-risk vendor” because of concerns about potential cyber attacks on telecoms networks.