Last week, Canada’s Minister of Innovation Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne said in an interview with Bloomberg that the government would make a decision in the near future on whether to ban Huawei 5G networks.
He also stressed that this decision will have a major impact on future generations. It is not only about Canada, but also requires cooperation among democratic countries that share the same values and principles.
Champagne is familiar with the background of the Meng Wanzhou case and the issues surrounding the use of Huawei’s 5G technology, as he was the Minister of International Affairs in the Trudeau government for the previous two years, where he spearheaded the signing of the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention of Foreign Nationals by more than 58 countries.
In the past two to three years, four other countries in Canada’s most important national security alliance, the Five Eyes coalition – Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States – have formally stated that they will ban or restrict the use of Huawei’s 5G network technology.
Last July, even the UK, which had once decided to use Huawei’s 5G network, changed its decision, saying it would gradually abandon Huawei’s technology and remove Huawei’s equipment by 2027.
In the face of the delay in the decision of allies Canada, another “four eyes” expressed incomprehension.
Over the past two years, a number of senior U.S. officials from both parties have warned Canada at every opportunity to “not let Huawei touch your 5G network” and even threatened that “if our close ally lets in a Trojan horse, intelligence sharing will be compromised “.
The formation of the “Five Eyes Alliance” can be traced back to the intelligence cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States at the beginning of the outbreak of World War II. After World War II, then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill argued that confronting the former Soviet Union required the cooperation of several English-speaking democracies. And from the Cold War until now, the five countries have been dividing their efforts and sharing intelligence with each other to address various international security concerns.
Professor Stephanie Carvin of Carleton University, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst, said the Five Eyes Alliance was critical to Canada’s role in intelligence. Canada does not have the ability to collect information and intelligence on the ground, and relies on its British and American allies for much of its intelligence. Ideally, the Five Eyes Alliance, along with democracies like France and Germany, should develop a common strategy to ensure cyber infrastructure and communications security.
At the same time, the Five Eyes Alliance has worked together not only to address Huawei’s use of 5G technology, but has often spoken out and taken a stand on human rights issues in China.
And the Chinese government has absolutely no love for the Five Eyes Alliance. Late last year, the Five Eyes Coalition issued a joint statement expressing serious concern after China adopted new rules to disqualify Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers.
In 19 years, before Canada’s last federal election, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was constantly pressed by his political opponents on whether he would allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to participate in the construction of Canada’s 5G (the fifth generation) Internet network. Trudeau said at the time that a decision on this would be made after the election.
Relations between Canada and China took a turn for the worse when Canada arrested Huawei’s finance director Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States and opened a hearing for her extradition to the United States, and China subsequently arrested two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Trudeau’s Liberals won a minority government in that election. Another year and a half has gone by without a formal decision from the federal government — and neither the Meng case nor the two Macs case is still pending.
Last November, Canada’s federal parliament voted to pass a motion by opposition Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong that the Liberal government must make a decision within 30 days on whether to allow Huawei to participate in building Canada’s 5G network.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and National Security Minister Bill Blair were repeatedly asked about the issue, and their answer was to repeat that “we are going through a certain process to assess the risk of Huawei’s 5G network.
This has become one of the most sensitive and delicate decisions in Canadian politics.
And two years ago, China warned Canada to beware of the consequences of banning Huawei 5G.
Lu Shano, then China’s ambassador to Canada, said at a press conference that Canada should “make a wise choice” when it comes to Huawei.
Why is the Canadian government still unable to make a decision?
So why has the Canadian government been so slow to make a formal decision on whether to use Huawei’s 5G technology?
Professor Calvin’s analysis is that the key lies in the most sensitive issue in Canada-China relations, Meng Wanzhou and the two Macs. Meng’s status as Huawei’s chief financial officer, the Chinese government’s tough stance on the Meng case, and the completion of the two Macs’ trial, but the future verdict and fate of the two remain unclear. In addition, Meng’s arrest in Canada follows four Canadians who have been sentenced to death by Chinese courts for drug trafficking and other charges — all reasons why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is handling the incident with extra caution.
And Margaret McGuaig-Johnston, a member of the Canada-China Forum Advisory Board and a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Institute for Science, Technology and Policy, believes it has to do with Canada’s changing alliance with the United States over the past few years.
When we see, she said, U.S. diplomats standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Canadian diplomats outside the courtroom in Beijing and Dandong in support of the two Macs, it makes us realize that the Biden administration’s commitment to Canada and sincere alliance will give Trudeau more confidence to make a decision soon.
Will Canada finally ban Huawei 5G?
In a rare public speech earlier this year in February, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault warned that Canada was being “targeted” by hostile foreign governments, through espionage operations and foreign influence operations to achieve “political, economic, and military advantage.
He also singled out Russia and China, saying that Beijing is involved in “activities that pose a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty.
In late 2020, Christopher Parsons, a senior fellow at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, released a lengthy investigative report on Huawei’s 5G network.
Speaking to Voice of America, Christopher Parsons said that if the Canadian government ultimately decides to ban or restrict Huawei’s 5G network, it will be, first and foremost, due to geostrategic factors and pressure from the United States.
Then again, 5G networks are considered critical infrastructure that will revolutionize everything that is currently in place, from factories, to healthcare systems, to electricity, to individuals and homes, all of which will be connected as a result — and Western governments will certainly conduct risk assessments on this. It’s clear that China will have a big impact on the future of geopolitics, but Western governments are finding that they are increasingly unable to predict China’s behavior. So, with a decision like the 5G network that concerns the future of Canada’s digital economy, it’s natural to worry about it being influenced by the Chinese government.
Finally, on the technical side, Parsonson argues that the U.S. government’s decision to impose sanctions on Huawei to restrict its imports of higher-quality as well as more secure chips also means that the Canadian government, in its security assessment, will assume that this sanction will lead to Huawei’s lack of competitiveness in the market, creating a technical barrier to its 5G network updates and, in turn, to its continued supply of technology to Canada.
However, in the report, Parsons confirms as that the national security concerns posed by Huawei 5G in the West are vague in terms of evidence. Canada should conduct a uniform security assessment of the various companies providing 5G network technology and set a standard, rather than making decisions based on vague security concerns.
But Margaret McCaig-Johnson argues that it is based on Huawei’s background and past behavior that has the Canadian government concerned that its national security is being compromised.
Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government, for example, are troubling. And according to China’s adopted Intelligence Law, any organization or citizen within China is required by law to support, assist and cooperate with the state’s intelligence efforts. At the same time, the state will provide protection to these individuals and organizations.
For example, last February, the U.S. filed 16 charges against Huawei, alleging that Huawei “has a long history of using fraud and deception to steal advanced technology from its U.S. counterparts,” while earlier this year in February, media outlets questioned Huawei’s involvement in the Chinese government’s development of a face recognition surveillance system for Uighurs, among other things.
Ms. McCaig-Johnson also believes that the real big shift in Canadian politicians and public opinion remains the Meng Wanzhou and the two Mack incidents.
She stated that, frankly, I think the most important thing is that we now understand China’s national intentions. The facts have proven that China has malicious intent toward Canada. Canada will eventually make a decision to ban or restrict Huawei’s 5G network, it’s just waiting for the timing to be announced and the operational details – whether it’s an outright ban or a gradual withdrawal of Huawei 5G, as the UK has done.
Last August, the media reported that two Canadian wireless giants, Bell and Telus, had begun working with Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia to build 5G networks after waiting too long for a formal government decision on Huawei’s 5G technology use.
Benjamin Howes, one of the heads of Huawei’s Canadian division, had expressed his displeasure in an interview. He said Huawei is not a company controlled by the Chinese government, never spies or gathers intelligence for the Chinese government in other countries, and always abides by the laws of the host country. For example, Huawei’s involvement in the construction and operation of 4G networks in Canada has not caused any security problems.
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