Manila got its first exposure to 5G in June, and a new carrier named Dito Telecommunity, backed by China's state-owned China Telecommunications, was being set up to build the network, the newspaper said in a long and well-researched report.

The local partner for the joint venture is known as Udenna Group and it has no telecommunications experience, with interests in real estate, logistics and shipping.

The network will be designed in China and rolled out in the Philippines by Chinese engineers, with 40% of the new company being owned by China Telecom.

For a number of years, the US has been pushing countries it considers allies to avoid using equipment from Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies foremost, in 5G networks. But Washington has produced no proof to back up its claims that these products could be used to spy for Beijing.

Only Australia and New Zealand have fallen in line with Washington's dictates, but even Wellington is still indicating that the initial refusal for telco Spark to use Huawei gear is not the end of the matter. Huawei sued the US on 7 March, seeking to be reinstated as a telco supplier in the country.

Two British telcos, EE and Vodafone, have launched 5G services using Huawei gear in non-core parts of the network.

The WSJ report said China Telecom was keen to take up a majority stake in the Philippine joint venture and an official in Manila said the government was seeking to change the limits on foreign ownership to facilitate this.

Huawei already enjoys a dominant position in the Philippines, having supplied most of the equipment used by the two bigger local operators, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications.

Other American allies to have gone with Huawei's 5G system are South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.