Britain’s decision to ban Huawei from its 5G networks has dealt a painful blow to China. Until recently, China was still counting on Britain to stick to its earlier decision to allow the Chinese telecom giant to supply non-core equipment for the country’s 5G networks.

But two recent developments made such a decision untenable. The first was the United States’ escalation of its war on Huawei. The U.S. instituted a new sanction in May banning suppliers that use its technology from providing semi-conductors to Huawei. Because U.S. technology is used to manufacture the advanced semi-conductors that Huawei’s products – including 5G base stations – require, the company’s supply will be cut off, making production of its 5G equipment in the future nearly impossible.