London: The chair of the UK Parliament's foreign committee has warned Boris Johnson against "nesting a dragon" inside the country's 5G network, amid reports the UK government is poised to allow Huawei to build the country's next-generation telecommunications network.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been warned against allowing Huawei to contribute to the country's 5G network. Credit:Bloomberg

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat warned the decision, widely reported in the British press, would leave Britain hostage to a hostile state.

"Allowing @Huawei to run the UK’s 5G network is a staggeringly bad idea," Tugendhat wrote on Twitter.

"Nesting a dragon in our central nervous system will cost us for decades and leave us hostage to a hostile state."