Security Questions Cloud Huawei’s Role in Private 5G Networks

More than a year ago, the U.S. asked its allies to ban equipment manufactured by China’s Huawei Technologies Co. because of American concerns about the company’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party. But European governments are still pushing back, saying there’s a safe way to work with the world’s biggest communications equipment supplier.

Italy and Germany are reinforcing security testing and approvals for new equipment to allay fears that Beijing could use Huawei systems for intellectual-property theft, spying, or sabotage. But neither country has banned Huawei gear, nor has France. And the U.K. has taken a different tack, effectively capping the Shenzhen-based vendor’s market share and excluding it from the most sensitive parts of its national mobile networks.