China urges UK to ignore pressure over Huawei 5G decision

Government told to make independent decision after move to involve Chinese company sparked criticism

China's ambassador to the UK has urged the government to ignore external pressure over a politically and diplomatically charged decision to involve the Chinese firm Huawei in building the 5G communications network.

In China's first official comments on the row, Beijing's ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, urged the UK to make the "right decision independently" over the suppliers for the new network.