British Intelligence henchmen have cautioned Britain against a possible threat from China as it might have acquired the ability to halt the country by handicapping its telecommunication and utilities.

According to Intelligence officials, the concern arises from a new communications network deployed by Huawei for British Telecom that has the potential of freezing critical services such as power, food and water supplies.

The latest calls of threat correspond to the increasing cyber warfare attacks on Britain by foreign intelligence services, particularly from Russia and China.

The Committee, led by Alex Allan has reportedly apprized members of the ministerial committee on national security about the threat from China at a secret meeting in January this year. The ministers had apparently been warned many a times before as well but much attention wasn’t paid alleges the British media.

Additionally, the security arm of GCHQ had also raised concerns over the fact that the new BT network will be used also by government departments, the intelligence services and the military.

Besides, the most alarming fact about the network remains that the key component provider Huawei, which was allegedly founded with significant funding from the Chinese state, is headed by Ren Zhengfei, a former director of an arm of People''s Liberation Army. Huawei has strongly refuted such charges in the past and said that it adheres to the rules and regulations of each of the global markets it caters to.

In a JIC report on British cyber security circulated in January and a cabinet office briefing paper, Huawei’s links with the Chinese military has been emphasized.

Huawei, which is rendering BT's with new £10 billion ($20.65 billion) network, will step up Britain's telecoms with the use of internet technology. The multi-million-pound deal, signed in 2005, was followed by a series of cautionary warnings from the intelligence and security services.

While BT is believed to have taken measures to mitigate the risk of attacks but any mitigation is believed to lay ineffective if a deliberate attack is made by China.

While a Whitehall report is understood to warn that, although there is a low risk of China exploiting its capability, "the impact would be very high".

Reports from the British media state that repeated warnings from Mr. Allan has been left unheeded, as Yvette Cooper, chief secretary to the Treasury, has expressed concerns over difficulty in finding funds in the current downturn and a replacement of component with British parts would also lead to clashing with competition policy.

The committee on national security was told at the January meeting that Huawei components forming key parts of BT's new network might already contain malicious elements waiting to be activated by China.