Canada announced Thursday that it will ban Chinese carriers Huawei and ZTE from their 5G wireless infrastructure.
Canadian companies cannot buy equipment and must remove equipment that is already installed.
“There are many hostile actors ready to exploit our defensive vulnerabilities,” said Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino at a press conference in Ottawa.
“Therefore, our government has conducted extensive and thorough security inspections of 5G wireless telecommunications technology, including service providers that pose a high risk to the integrity of our telecommunications sector.”
The long-awaited decision will allow Canada to work with Five Eyes Intelligence Partners, who have banned or announced Huawei. Phase abolition Of the equipment already used by domestic wireless carriers
Chinese ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu said in December that Huawei’s ban would send “a very wrong signal to Chinese companies.” report CBC.
Concerns about Huawei surround the link Have To the Chinese army that the company has RejectedAnd critics also point out the National Intelligence Law, which requires Chinese entities to support national intelligence gathering.
U.S. officials Said Huawei denied the 2020 Wall Street Journal, which had been able to secretly access wireless networks around the world through backdoors for over a decade.
Canada has postponed the decision to allow Huawei on 5G networks. The United States has publicly warned that if not allowed, it could affect Washington’s willingness to share intelligence, fearing that data could be compromised.
China has taken a series of retaliation against Canada after Canadian authorities arrested Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of Meng Wanzhou, the company’s founder, in a U.S. extradition request in December 2018. It was started.
Among the steps Beijing took was the arbitrary arrest of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
The two were released last September and subsequently released by Canada after Meng reached a postponed indictment agreement with the US Department of Justice.
Details to follow.
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Noé Charter is a Montreal-based Epoch Times reporter. Twitter: @NChartierET Gettr: @nchartieret