Editor's note: Ryan McLean is a PhD student at Queen's University Belfast. He focuses on international political economy, Chinese politics and energy policy. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

For some time now, and more recently in February this year, Britain's cyber security chiefs had been saying that risks associated with Chinese tech giant Huawei could be "managed." Fast forward now to June 2020, when Britain looks set to ban Huawei from the country's 5G network by 2023 at the latest. 

This is the confusing situation that the UK now finds itself in. But what exactly has changed in only a matter of months? 

Firstly, it is important to note that the UK's previously agreed strategy towards Huawei was itself the very definition of "measured." The plan ensured that Britain's 5G rollout would not be undermined, while also addressing perceived security concerns. It included a 35-percent cap limit on Huawei's network equipment and the exclusion of the company from any "critical" infrastructure projects.

As a result of these safeguards, the UK's National Security Council (NSC) first gave the "green light" to Huawei for operating within the UK back in 2019 – when Theresa May was the prime minister – and approved the company yet again, only a few months ago. In addition, Boris Johnson also put his Huawei blueprint before the parliament where it was put to a vote, and passed, in March 2020. 

However, the UK-Huawei deal is now under threat from rising anti-China political sentiment in both Britain and America. 

External diplomatic pressure from the United States is evidently influencing the UK government's thinking on Huawei, as they seek closer ties with the U.S. post-Brexit. After all, skepticism towards China has been a prominent feature of U.S. foreign policy discourse since Donald Trump's election in 2016.

Last month, as reported by The Telegraph, the White House sent a new warning to Prime Minister Johnson. They indicated that if the Chinese telecoms company was allowed to operate in the UK's 5G network, this could potentially force the U.S. to "pull out" its spy planes and other intelligence gathering assets.

However, it should not be forgotten that pre-existing U.S. security claims regarding Huawei's alleged threat to Britain's national security were already factored in and dismissed by UK security chiefs. In January, Sir Andrew Parker, former director general of Britain's MI5 intelligence agency, publicly disputed what U.S. officials had claimed. Parker argued that a limited role for Huawei would not undermine U.S.-UK intelligence sharing capabilities.

If British security experts are now forced to back down under new political pressure, this could potentially raise questions about the credibility and autonomy of Britain's intelligence community as well. After all, the UK's cyber intelligence agency and the NSC confirmed only earlier this year that Huawei's technology was acceptable for use in the country's telecoms network.

Importantly, there is also certainly no guarantee that President Trump will even secure re-election in November 2020. Therefore, to capitulate now to the U.S.'s threats, could well end up being an incredibly short-sighted and naive mistake by Britain.

On top of lobbying from Washington, the current hostility towards Huawei is also directly related to the coronavirus pandemic itself. With the UK government becoming more focused on what Conservative party backbenchers now think. COVID-19 has allowed some hawkish politicians to pursue a relentless anti-China agenda in the hope that Boris Johnson will finally "get tough" on Beijing. But to ditch Huawei, because some want a "reckoning" over the coronavirus, is problematic to say the least. 

It would be a travesty for the UK to use an unprecedented global health crisis to help justify the exclusion of Huawei, after having only endorsed the company a matter of months ago. And it would almost certainly lead to a further breakdown in Sino-British business ties as well. Only last week, the British Chamber of Commerce in China highlighted these concerns. They called for immediate "dialogue" between London and Beijing and warned against "populist and protectionist politics [which] can disrupt international relationships." 

Lastly, the long-term development of Britain's telecommunications infrastructure is now clearly at stake here as well. All the country's dominant mobile network operators – O2, Vodafone, EE and Three – already use Huawei equipment to support their respective long-term 5G strategies.

Removing and replacing Huawei technology will be both expensive and time-consuming. UK's telecoms companies have also warned that this would almost certainly damage Britain's efforts of becoming a world leader in 5G as well. In the end, the clear losers from this will be UK businesses and consumers.

Therefore, it cannot be stressed enough that any U-turn on Huawei is both unjustifiable and self-damaging. Banning Huawei would confirm that the UK intends to sacrifice mutually beneficial cooperation for political Sino skepticism instead. And this, of course, would be the real tragedy. 

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