Britain’s embrace of Huawei to help build its 5G network has provoked a diplomatic bust-up with Australia, days before Donald Trump’s aides fly in to demand a rethink.

Australian MPs have cancelled a planned trip to London, after details of a high-level meeting with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, were leaked – apparently prompting an official UK complaint.

Mr Raab is reported to have been rebuked strongly for the go-ahead and told “How would you feel if the Russians laid down infrastructure in your own networks? That's how we feel about Huawei.”

It means rifts have opened up with two of the UK’s partners in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – and with two key target countries for a post-Brexit trade deal.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s acting chief of staff is among senior officials due in London on Wednesday to put pressure on the UK to “change its position”, a US source has said.

Canberra, like Washington, has banned the Chinese telecommunications giant from building its next-generation 5G mobile internet networks, but Britain ignored pressure to do the same.

The rebuke of Mr Raab came when he visited Australia last week and met members of its parliament's intelligence committee, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

It was delivered by Anthony Byrne, the deputy chair of Australia's intelligence committee, who spoke of a “full and frank discussion” in a Twitter post at the time.

Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Show all 20 1 /20 Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An employee enters a train in the Huawei's Ox Horn campus at Songshan Lake in Dongguan Reuters Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China A worker cleans a waterway as office buildings are seen at Huawei's new Ox Horn Research and Development campus in Dongguan, near shenzen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An area of Huawei's Ox Horn campus modelled after Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China The real Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Employees sleep in their cubicle in the research and development area after lunch at the Bantian campus in Shenzhen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An area of Huawei's Ox Horn campus modelled after Heidelberg in Germany Getty Images Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Employees play basketball on a court within the staff housing complex at the end of the workday at the Bantian campus in Shenzhen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China A replica of the Karl Theodor Bridge in Huawei's Ox Horn campus Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China The real Karl Theodor Bridge in Heidelberg, Germany Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Huawei's Ox Horn campus at Songshan Lake in Dongguan Reuters Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Employees ride the bus home at the end of the workday from the company's Bantian campus in Shenzhen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Huawei workers eat their subsidised lunch in one of many large cafeterias at the company's Bantian campus in Shenzhen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Reception staff walk in front of a large screen showcasing different technologies in the foyer of a building used for high profile customer visits at the campus in Shenzen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An employee reads in the staff library on a break at the company's Bantian campus in Shenzhen Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An area of Huawei's new Ox Horn campus modelled after a European City Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Servers are seen inside Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan Reuters Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China The conductor waits for a train in the Huawei's Ox Horn campus at Songshan Lake in Dongguan Reuters Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China A general view shows the research and development centre at Huawei's Ox Horn campus AFP/Getty Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China Employees works on a mobile phone production line at Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan Reuters Inside Huawei's new campus for workers in China An office building on the Huawei campus in Dongguan AFP/Getty

The Herald’s report is said to have triggered a formal complaint from Vicki Treadell, the UK's High Commissioner to Australia, to the heads of two Australian parliamentary committees.

The MPs’ trip to the UK has now been delayed, although Canberra said it was because the counterpart parliamentary committee in the UK has still to be appointed following December's general election.

The controversy also reared its head at the Munich Security Conference, where Mark Esper, the US Defence Secretary, warned that alliances such as Nato were in jeopardy if European partners used Huawei technology.

Ahead of the US delegation’s visit, The Daily Telegraph quoted a source saying British officials could expect a “bollocking”, saying: “One thing is on the agenda and it's not a trade deal - it is Huawei.”

Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the British Government should take such concerns seriously.

“Personally, I would like to stand with countries that share the rule of law, human rights and the values I think are so important,” he told BBC Radio 4.

“That means standing with Australia and Canada. It also means standing with countries like France who have also rejected Huawei.”