U.S. CONVINCE ALLIES TO AVOID USING HUAWEI GEAR

[Anchor Lead]

Amid escalating U.S.-China tensions, Washington is trying to convince allies to avoid using Huawei gear, calling it a national security issue. The U.S. State Department urged Korean telecom operator LG Uplus to drop the Chinese IT giant.

[Pkg]

The U.S. government pressured LG Uplus to stop purchasing equipment made by Huawei. The deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications and information policy insisted the Korean telecom provider should exclude Huawei gear from next-generation 5G networks and switch to trusted vendors. LG Uplus is the only major South Korean telecom company using Huawei equipment.

[Soundbite] ROBERT STRAYER(U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CYBER AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION POLICY)

Robert Strayer stressed this is a serious security issue.

[Soundbite] ROBERT STRAYER(U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CYBER AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION POLICY)

The U.S. official noted there are many countries and companies that don't use Huawei gear, including Korea's SK Telecom and KT. However, he made it clear that Washington will not provide any financial incentives for the Korean firm to sever business ties with the Chinese IT giant. With mounting pressure from the states, more countries are joining the campaign to drop Huawei. Following Australia and New Zealand, Britain also decided to ban the Chinese company from its 5G network projects until 2027. The U.S. is now taking tougher action to win the tech battle with China and prevent its rival from achieving global supremacy in the field. Amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, Korean companies are forced into a very difficult position.