After years of dithering and more than seven months after the release of two Canadians who had been detained in China since the end of 2018, the Trudeau government finally announced on Thursday the banning of Chinese giants Huawei and ZTE from Canadian telephone networks. 5G wireless.
“The government intends to ban the use of Huawei and ZTE components and services in Canada’s telecommunications system,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Thursday in Ottawa. .
“This follows a thorough review by our independent security agencies and in consultation with our closest allies,” he added.
– Listen to Vincent Dessureault at the microphone of Mario Dumont on QUB radio:
Canadian security experts were almost unanimous in urging Ottawa to ban Huawei from 5G networks. In particular, they raised the risk that the Chinese government could spy on Canadians through “backdoors” embedded in its products and services. Huawei has always denied this possibility.
Canada will thus become the last member of the Five Eyes (Five Eyes)which also includes the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, to exclude Huawei from its 5G networks.
How many years ?
“The key issue is how many years the government will give companies to remove equipment from Huawei. Telus has placed 5G hardware and software from Huawei in its systems. We should force him to remove them immediately,” commented to the Journal Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior federal civil servant who now teaches at the University of Ottawa.
For its part, Bell has installed components from Huawei in earlier versions of its cellular infrastructure, which are also used in its 5G network.
According to National PostBell and Telus are pressing Ottawa for compensation for the removal of Huawei equipment, but on Thursday Mr. Champagne simply said “no” when asked if he intended to pay them compensation.
The two companies did not respond to questions from the Newspaper Thursday.
Silence on the consequences
Relations between Canada and China soured after Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December 2018 following an extradition request from the United States.
A few days later, the imprisonment of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig by China set fire to the powder in the relations between the two countries.
On Thursday, Minister Champagne remained evasive about the possibility of reprisals from China.
“It’s the decision that’s in Canada’s interest,” he said.
– With QMI Agency and Francis Halin