At least four ways banning Huawei from 5G would hurt the UK, according to China's ambassador

Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK. (File photo/Chinanews.com)

Should the UK choose to completely ban Huawei from its 5G network, as media reports have suggested, the decision will have "many consequences," according to China's ambassador to the UK.

Liu Xiaoming said a decision to continue to work with the Chinese tech giant would be a "win-win" for Sino-British cooperation. The company has demonstrated that it is not a security threat, he added.

However, newspaper reports over the weekend suggest UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under pressure from Washington, will backtrack over a decision to allow Huawei to supply up to 35 percent of the kit for Britain's 5G telecommunications network.

Johnson has declined to confirm or deny the reports, noting only that he was determined both to get broadband into every part of the country and ensure that the UK was not "vulnerable to a high-risk state vendor."

Speaking to British media, Liu listed a series of possible consequences should the UK change its mind and ban Huawei:

- It will damage Britain's image as an open, business-friendly, free, transparent environment.

- It will undermine the perception that the UK can conduct independent policy, instead suggesting it is "dancing to the tune" of others.

- It will send out a very bad message to the Chinese business community in Britain.

- It will undermine trust in the UK government more broadly.

Liu cited a Chinese saying: "You can't make your policy in the morning and change it in the evening." And warned that other Chinese companies would be closely watching as they think about their own investment strategies.

Nevertheless, "if the UK chooses to pay a higher price for poor quality – or less quality ... It's up to you," he observed.

British mobile providers including Vodafone have lobbied for Huawei to remain part of the 5G rollout plan on the basis that banning the provider will increase costs and slow the introduction of the new technology.

As for Huawei itself, Liu said he was confident that even if it was blocked in the UK, the company would continue and had plenty of other markets in which to expand.

"Once you have a good product, you should not worry about it. I think the world is big enough to accommodate Huawei."