An “unfounded” decision made under the “pretense” of national security: China on Friday denied the exclusion from the 5G network in Canada of its telecom giants ZTE and Huawei, the last group to denounce a ” political decision “.
Beijing-Ottawa relations have notoriously deteriorated since 2018 with the arrest in Canada, at the request of the United States, by Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, who has since returned to China.
In the context of the Sino-American rivalry, Washington for its part has greatly increased in recent years the pressure against the Chinese jewelry technology industry.
The United States has accused Huawei of posing a risk to national security because of potential and unproven links with China’s intelligence services, which the company denies.
Washington is urging its allies to abandon ZTE and especially Huawei to equip their 5G networks, arguing that Beijing could use these companies to monitor a country’s communications and data traffic.
After years of dithering, Canada decided on Thursday to formally ban the two groups from its 5G network.
We announce our intention to ban Huawei and ZTE products and services from Canadian telecommunications systemssaid Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
This follows a full review of our security agencies and in consultation with our closest allies.he said at a press conference.
Beijing expressed discontent on Friday.
” Despite the absence of any definitive evidence, Canada excluded these Chinese companies from the Canadian market using alleged security risks, which were unfounded. “
China strongly opposes with this decision, he added to the press, making sure his country would take over all necessary steps to defend Chinese companies.
Huawei Canada, for its part, said failed by this regrettable political decisionaccording to a statement sent to the AFP.
In the 13 years of the group’s activity in the country, the company’s equipment is thoroughly examined by Services in Canada and no security incidentsunderlined the company.
We will do everything we can to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our customers, our partners and ourselves.
Lack of trust in the West
Canada has already banned Huawei from participating in government tenders for key network equipment, such as routers.
The United States is leading the campaign against Huawei, with US President Donald Trump’s spectacular ouster of the Chinese group in May 2019.
Washington, which is no longer a major manufacturer of telecom equipment in mobile networks, has openly urged its European partners to do the same.
Other Canadian allies also followed the United States, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Sweden.
France, for its part, has chosen to restrict the operating permissions of operators using Huawei technologies.
5G technology, whose deployment is accelerating around the world, offers super-fast Internet access and is set to play an important role for connected objects.
5G represents a great opportunities for competition and growthbut also involves risksCanadian Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino said Thursday.
There are many evil actors who are willing to exploit weaknesses on telecommunications networks, he told reporters.
Diplomatic relations between China and Canada soured at the end of 2018 with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, a Huawei executive and daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecom group.
This marked the beginning of a major crisis between the two countries called hostage diplomacywith similar detention in China of two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor.
After nearly three years of trial, Meng Wanzhou was finally released at the end of September 2021 and returned to China. The two Canadians were later released.
Source: Radio-Canada
