Re: It isn't like
>the Chinese have a history of intellectual property theft...
...and before the Chinese it was the Japanese, or Hong Kong, or wherever.
The problem we have to face isn't 'intellectual property theft', its the fact that Huawei owns about 60% of the patents needed to implement 5G. We turned our engineering efforts into rentier operations, content to hold "IP" and milk it indefinitely while leaving the work and investment needed to develop new technologies to others. It made us lots of cash in the short term but in the longer term its made us consumers, second tier. Complaining that its 'no fair' just won't wash.
The UK doesn't have any cell infrastructure industry to speak of. Neither does the US these days. You are a consumer - you take what you can get and if you don't like it then just go without.