Canada has banned telecom companies from using equipment from Chinese suppliers ZTE and Huawei for their 5G networks. National security concerns about those two companies are too great. Canadian industry and public security ministers said so on Thursday.
Huawei is accused by more countries of enabling espionage through technological loopholes, but the telecom and smartphone group always strongly denies this. The United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands, among others, all ban or restrict the use of Huawei technology in 5G networks.
Telecom providers in Canada that may have already installed equipment from Huawei and ZTE for their 5G network will no longer be allowed to use that equipment. It must be removed by June 28, 2024 at the latest. “This follows a comprehensive assessment by our security services and consultation with allies,” said Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Measures against Huawei have already fueled diplomatic tensions between Canada and the Asian superpower. Canadian authorities arrested the telecom company’s financial director, Meng Wangzhou, in 2018 after an extradition request from the United States. China then detained a Canadian businessman and diplomat, presumably in retaliation. Meng, suspected of circumventing sanctions against Iran, was allowed to return to China after nearly three years under house arrest in Vancouver after a deal with justice in the United States.
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