Britain has concerns around Chinese cyber intrusion- UK PM spokesman

Reuters
Updated

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Britain has a strong relationship with China but has expressed concerns about its cyber intrusion, a spokesman for the prime minister said on Thursday, after the United States warned London it should rethink its approach.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Britain it needed to change its attitude towards China and Huawei, casting the world's second largest economy as a threat to the West similar to that once posed by the Soviet Union.

A spokesman for Theresa May said Britain had a strong relationship with China but said there were several areas where it had expressed concerns, including cyber hacking.

Ahead of an announcement on whether to allow Huawei a role in building the national 5G network, he said if any security risks arose they would be assessed by the government. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; writing by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)