Canada should follow U.K.’s lead on Huawei By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 6, 2020

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/07/2020 (1634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his colleagues have been thinking for a couple of years now about whether to use equipment from Huawei Technologies in this country’s fifth generation (5G) telecom networks. Events, however, have made the answer increasingly obvious.

U.S. intelligence agencies have been publicly warning since February 2018 that Chinese companies such as Huawei are obliged by Chinese law to assist intelligence efforts of the Chinese government. Consequently, Huawei equipment in the telecom networks of the U.S. and its allies could be used to gather information on behalf of Chinese spy agencies.

The Trump administration has been warning for more than a year that it will restrict intelligence-sharing with countries that use Huawei equipment in their networks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in January that he would allow Huawei equipment in parts of the U.K., but not close to nuclear reactors or other sensitive locations. This week, however, the government received another report on the subject from a cyber-security section within its top intelligence agency, warning the government away from Huawei. A faction within the ruling Conservative Party was urging Mr. Johnson to close the door on the Chinese firm.

In this country, Bell Canada and Telus Corp. announced in June that they had contracted with Sweden-based Ericsson and Finland-based Nokia for 5G network equipment. Ericsson was already the main supplier to Rogers Communications. Because of these commercial connections, Canadian telecom companies will be able to build their 5G networks and serve their customers without Huawei equipment.

Canada has direct, painful experience of doing business with Huawei. Chinese security forces kidnapped two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in December 2018 because Canada had arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as she changed planes in Vancouver. U.S. prosecutors have charged her with fraud and sought her extradition to face trial in New York. The two Michaels are being held as hostages in an effort to exempt Ms. Meng from submission to U.S. courts.

In these circumstances, Canada would be extremely unwise to choose Huawei as a partner or a supplier in its advanced telecom networks. We already know what kind of partner Huawei is: you don’t dare make them mad or your citizens suddenly disappear into China’s prisons as hostages.

The great appeal of Huawei equipment is price. They undersell Nokia and Ericsson. But if you save a few million dollars and then live in constant fear of your supplier because its country’s government is a ruthless hostage-taker, what kind of saving is that?

The telecom companies are building their new, high-volume networks with Nokia and Ericsson equipment. That work can continue. The government might have to require them to replace Huawei equipment they are already using, but the companies can already see which way the wind is blowing, a wind that favours Nokia and Ericsson.

The U.S. and China are both trying to win the decisions they want from the Canadian government. The U.S. provides reasons and threatens to stop telling secrets to Canadian intelligence agencies if we disregard its advice. China imprisons innocent Canadians on its territory and threatens them with life sentences. It should be blindingly obvious which argument Canada should listen to.

Fifty years ago, Canada hoped China, once it was brought into the United Nations and the world trading system, would accept the rules by which other great nations live. It hasn’t worked yet.