Competition concerns aside, there was at least one other potential roadblock to this merger. Three is owned by CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong conglomerate subject to a national security law introduced by China in 2020, leading some to argue that Three could be compelled to share sensitive data with the Chinese state. The U.K. had introduced the National Security and Investment Act back in 2022 to cover such scenarios, and the government had previously used this law to block other deals between U.K. entities and Chinese companies.