Britain's decision to permit the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to continue supplying equipment for the UK's 5G network, albeit with restrictions, is nuanced and pragmatic and could serve as a template for other countries that have yet to decide on this critical issue. In making the decision, just before Brexit, Britain faced a dilemma: Permitting Huawei to continue operating might jeopardise its diplomatic relations with the United States, which has been urging London to keep Huawei out because of security concerns, suggesting that doing otherwise would compromise intelligence sharing between Britain and the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which also includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand. But shutting out Huawei would delay Britain's 5G roll-out, disrupt the plans of its telecoms companies which depend heavily on Huawei, plus incur the displeasure of Beijing, which in turn might affect future trade and investment relations.

In the end, Britain chose to take the middle road, seeking to balance its commercial and security interests. It will permit Huawei to continue as a supplier, but only of peripheral equipment such as base stations and antennae rather than more sensitive parts of the network known as the core. Moreover, Huawei's market share will be capped at 35 per cent, and the Chinese company, which has been designated a "high-risk supplier", will be barred from operating in areas near military bases and nuclear installations.