China threatened to pull plans for new nuclear plants in the U.K. after the British government agreed to seek alternatives to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. as the equipment supplier for its 5G network, The Times reported June 7.

Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to the U.K., told business leaders in a private meeting that abandoning Huawei could undermine plans for Chinese companies to build nuclear power plants and the HS2 high-speed rail network, according to the report. U.K. officials dismissed the comments as "sabre-rattling."

State-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp., along with Electricité de France SA, owns the planned 3.2-GW Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Plant being built in Somerset, U.K. They are also developing a joint proposal to build the Bradwell B Nuclear Power Station in Essex.

Due to national security concerns, the British government has reportedly been working on plans to completely remove Huawei from its 5G networks by 2023. Chinese involvement in Hinkley Point C was criticized for the same reason.