The U.K.’s Huawei dilemma

Balance of Power From FOLLOW US SUBSCRIBE   When Prime Minister Boris Johnson decides today what role Chinese tech giant Huawei can play in the U.K.'s fifth-generation telecommunications networks, he'll likely seek a compromise: partial access and a wall around core parts of the system. That won't please Donald Trump, Alex Morales and Thomas Seal report. The U.S. president sees Huawei as a national security threat and has tried to prevent the company from buying products using American technology. His administration has threatened to hold back intelligence-sharing with NATO allies if they use Huawei equipment. Germany and France are wrestling with the same dilemma. The U.S. has provided no evidence that Huawei is spying for China, and the U.K.'s GCHQ, a government security organization, has been scrutinizing its software and hardware for the past decade. Even Trump's own Pentagon and Treasury Department have opposed his plans to tighten controls on sales to Huawei, one of the world's biggest purchasers of chips, saying the move could backfire on American companies like semi-conductor makers and Google. For now, there's no practical alternative to Huawei: Its equipment is cheaper and better than what Nokia and Ericsson offer. Johnson's challenge is to find a balance between appeasing his White House ally — with whom he's trying to forge a post-Brexit trade deal — without jeopardizing his election pledge to roll out ultra-fast Internet. Expect a fudge. — Karl Maier  The 5G networks are of particular concern because they will go beyond making smartphone downloads faster to enable new technologies like self-driving cars and the Internet of Things. U.K.-based carrier Vodafone Group was said to have found and fixed backdoors on Huawei equipment.  Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg Global Headlines Uncharted territory | Trump is set to release his long-promised Middle East peace plan today and is hopeful it will win the support of Palestinians and Arab nations. That seems unlikely though, given Palestinian leaders have spurned talks with the U.S. The deal is expected to be favorable to Israel, which may help Trump shore up the backing of evangelical Christians and conservative Jewish contributors for his re-election bid in November. Virus watch | China expanded travel restrictions as governments, companies and international health organizations rushed to contain the SARS-like coronavirus that's killed more than 100 people. Beijing will stop individual travelers to Hong Kong while closing some border checkpoints and restricting flights and train services from the mainland. The outbreak is threatening to derail fragile stability in the world economy, which had appeared poised to benefit from the phase one U.S.-China trade deal and signs of a tech-sector turnaround. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam wears a face mask at a news conference today. Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP Last say | Trump's lawyers are set to begin their final day of arguments in his Senate impeachment trial, having only barely noted the bombshell revelation from former National Security Adviser John Bolton that threatens to upset White House plans for a quick end to the proceedings. Still ahead: what promises to be a dramatic debate and a moment of reckoning for a handful of Republican moderates over whether to call Bolton or other witnesses. Not catching fire | U.S. presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has tried to set herself apart from her Democratic rivals by rolling out policy proposals for restructuring the entire American economy, from health care to education to the tax system. But that's not translating into a strong showing in the polls a week before the nation's first nominating contest in Iowa. Determined to join | In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Balkan country so dysfunctional that it needed 14 months to form a government after elections, there's one point of unity among feuding factions: the desire to join the European Union. Zoran Tegeltija, head of the new cabinet, hopes to meet the conditions for the country to officially become an accession candidate by year-end, even as the bloc drags its feet on taking in new members. What to Watch The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared Trump's administration to start enforcing its new immigrant wealth test, designed to screen out green card applicants seen as being at risk of becoming dependent on government benefits. Afghan troops clashed with Taliban fighters as they tried to reach the crash site of a U.S. military aircraft downed in eastern Afghanistan yesterday. The militant group claimed it had struck the aircraft, while the U.S. denied the plane was hit by hostile fire. A surge in Islamist militant violence in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has left as many as 5 million children needing humanitarian assistance this year, according to the United Nations. Facing economic collapse and painful sanctions, President Nicolas Maduro has proposed giving majority shares of Venezuela's oil industry to foreign corporations, a move that would forsake decades of state monopoly. Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... President Rodrigo Duterte is cracking down on some of the Philippines' biggest businesses as he scrutinizes contracts and forces concessions for taxpayers. And he's doing it in his own special way. "They are all thieves, those sons of b******," he said last week. The stock market is reeling and valuations have fallen since he stepped up his attacks, but Duterte's own popularity has soared. The nation's stock market has dropped as much as 11% from its 2019 peak while the 74-year-old leader's ratings hit a new high last quarter. Photographer: Ted Aljibe/AFP   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Politics newsletter Balance of Power. You can tell your friends to sign up here.   Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022