The US threatens Germany: either Chinese 5G or intelligence sharing

The Trump administration has told the German government it would limit intelligence sharing with Berlin if Huawei Technologies Co. is allowed to build Germany’s next-generation mobile-internet infrastructure.

In a letter to the country’s economics minister, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard A. Grenell said allowing the participation of Huawei or other Chinese equipment vendors to participate in the 5G project would mean the U.S. won’t be able to maintain the same level of cooperation with German security agencies.

The letter, which was dated Friday and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, marks the first time the U.S. has explicitly warned an ally that refusing to ostracize Huawei could lessen security cooperation with Washington. Among others things, European security agencies have relied heavily on U.S. intelligence in the fight against terrorism.

U.S. officials have urged allies for months to bar Huawei and other Chinese companies from critical communication-infrastructure work because of suspicion that these companies might share data with the Chinese government. But the German government says it has seen nothing to indicate that Huawei would use its equipment to spy on its users and that it should therefore be allowed to bid on 5G contracts if it satisfies basic security criteria.

U.S. warns Germany: Don’t use Huawei or we’ll share less intel, MarketWatch, Mar 12