US urges NATO allies to use defence funds to replace Huawei

This article was published on June 8, 2026 A US official told allies in Brussels they should use NATO defence funding to replace Chinese network gear, Bloomberg reports. The suggestion landed with a shrug, and Europe is still split on a ban. The US has found a new use for Europe’s swelling defence budgets: tearing out Huawei. Whether its allies are listening is another matter. The State Department’s China coordinator, Joshua Young, told officials in Brussels last month that NATO members should use defence-related funding, the spending that counts towards the alliance’s targets, to rip out Huawei equipment and replace it with other vendors’ gear, Bloomberg reported. Young did not name countries, but one person said the remarks were aimed at Germany. The comments came from a relatively junior diplomat, and allies, who have grown used to contradictory signals from the Trump administration, did not respond on the spot, according to people familiar with the closed-door meeting. The State Department declined to comment. Almost all members agreed last year to lift defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, 3.5 per cent for core military needs and another 1.5 per cent for defence-related areas