A woman wearing a face mask walks past a Huawei store temporarily closed due to coronavirus-related restrictions in Beijing, Thursday, May 12, 2022. China’s leaders are struggling. to reverse a deeper economic downturn while keeping to a “no COVID” strategy of shutting down Shanghai and other cities.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
hide captions
switch captions
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
A woman wearing a face mask walks past a Huawei store temporarily closed due to coronavirus-related restrictions in Beijing, Thursday, May 12, 2022. China’s leaders are struggling. to reverse a deeper economic downturn while keeping to a “no COVID” strategy of shutting down Shanghai and other cities.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
TORONTO – Wireless carriers in Canada will not be allowed to install Huawei equipment in their high-speed 5G networks, the Canadian government said on Thursday, joining allies in banning the tech giant. giant of China.
Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence-gathering alliance that does not ban or restrict the use of equipment by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in their 5G network. The US and other members – the UK, Australia and New Zealand – have previously banned Huawei.
“We are announcing our intention to ban the inclusion of Huawei and ZTE products and services in Canadian telecommunications systems,” said Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Canada’s ban also includes ZTE Corp., one of China’s largest technology companies, and a state-owned company.
Champagne added that “suppliers who have installed this equipment will be required to discontinue use and remove it.” He said Canadian wireless companies will not be compensated.
The major Canadian wireless companies have already begun working with other providers.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said: “There are many adversaries ready to exploit vulnerabilities in our defenses.
Mendicino said the government has carried out an extensive review and is redoubled efforts to protect Canadians.
China condemns the move against one of its national champions as a form of “political manipulation” carried out with the coordination of the US, aimed at “suppressing” Chinese companies that violate free market principles.
“China will comprehensively and seriously evaluate this incident and take all necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the Chinese Embassy in Canada said. in a statement posted on their website.
China often uses such language in trade disputes, which often does not lead to a firm response from Beijing.
The US government has lobbied allies like Canada for years to exclude Huawei from its new ultra-fast 5G mobile network over concerns that China’s communist rulers could force the company to help with operations. cyber espionage. The US has warned it will reconsider sharing intelligence with any country that uses Huawei equipment.
The company has repeatedly denied the allegations.
“We are disappointed but not surprised. We are surprised that it took the government so long to make a decision,” said Huawei spokesman Alykhan Velshi. “We consider this a political decision, one born of political pressure primarily from the United States.”
Velshi said there will be Huawei equipment in Canada for years to come. The company has more than 1,500 employees in Canada, and two-thirds of them work in research and development, he said.
The development of 5G or fifth generation networks will bring people faster online connections and provide huge data capacity to meet the increasing demand as more and more things are linked to the internet. and innovations such as virtual reality, role-playing games, and autonomous vehicles appeared.
Huawei is the largest global supplier of networking equipment to phone and internet companies. It is symbolic of China’s progress as a technology power – and the subject of US law enforcement and security concerns. Some analysts argue that Chinese companies have violated international rules and standards and stolen technology.
China, the US and Canada completed a high-stakes prisoner swap last year involving a top-level Huawei executive who has been charged with fraud by the US.
China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and the daughter of the company’s founder, on a US extradition request. They were returned to Canada in September, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching an agreement with US authorities in her case.
Many countries view China’s actions as “hostage politics”, while China describes the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to stifle economic development and Chinese technology.
Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian ambassador to China, talks about the move to ban Huawei. “We are facing a China that is much more belligerent in the conduct of its foreign policy but also in the way it gathers information to achieve its goals.”
Saint-Jacques said that under Chinese law, no company can refuse a request to share information from the Chinese government, so it would not be possible to allow Huawei to participate.
He expected China to retaliate.
“I expect we’ll get a response from them pretty quickly,” he said. “They use commerce as a weapon and I doubt that’s what we’re going to see in this case.”
