Ottawa has announced that it plans to ban the use of 5G equipment produced by Chinese groups Huawei Technologies and ZTE. The objective for the Canadian government is to protect its national security, imitating the United States and Great Britain.
“Vendors who have already installed this equipment will be forced to stop using it and remove it,” declared the Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, during a press conference.
This decision by Ottawa, which was anticipated, had been postponed due to diplomatic tensions with Beijing.
The Canadian government announced in September 2018 that it would study possible national security threats posed by the use of Huawei equipment.
Beijing denounced this decision “unfounded”. “China firmly opposes” this decision, spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, told reporters. The spokesperson assured that China would take “all necessary measures” to protect Chinese companies.
This decision is not a surprise for some analysts, who recall that Canada already prohibited Huawei from participating in government tenders for basic network equipment, such as routers.
5G “represents a major opportunity for competition and growth” more “also entails risks”said Canadian Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino. “There are many hostile actors who are ready to exploit vulnerabilities” in telecommunications networks, he said.
The diplomatic relationship between China and Canada soured at the end of 2018 with the arrest at the request of American justice, in Vancouver, of Meng Wanzhou, financial director of Huawei.
This situation marked the beginning of an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between China and Canada. Beijing had relaxed two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor.
After almost three years of proceedings, Meng Wanzhou finally regained freedom at the end of September 2021 and returned to China. The two Canadians were released soon after.
The decision to ban ZTE and Huawei from 5G in Canada came as China lifted a three-year ban on imports of canadian canola.
In March 2019, China revoked the license of Canada’s largest agricultural producer, Richardson, and Viterra Inc. due to pests detected in exports.