The pandemic may have distracted attention from the US-China hi-tech trade wars, or even encouraged a spirit of global cooperation, but behind the scenes, the uncertainty about the place of Huawei and ZTE in future 5G build-outs remains unclear, which has a ripple effect for the whole supply chain and for operators’ financial planning. France is the latest European country to allow Chinese vendors to supply at least some 5G equipment, but there are many more decisions to be announced before it will really be clear how far Huawei will play a role in western 5G roll-outs. In the USA, of course, the ban on Chinese equipment in national infrastructure has been in place for over a decade, but smaller…