Trudeau says future of Huawei 5G network in Canada up to security experts, not politicians

The participation of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in building Canada’s fifth generation wireless network will be decided following the advice of Canadian security and intelligence experts, not for reasons of political expediency, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

This week, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Ottawa is expected to announce a formal ban on tech firm Huawei and ZTE, China’s second-largest telecommunications equipment maker, within weeks.

The Australian paper said the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, comprising of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the U.S., met in Nova Scotia in July to discuss what to do about Huawei.

Canada’s allies are concerned that Huawei might be forced by Chinese authorities to install backdoors in its equipment allowing Beijing’s intelligence agencies and hackers unparalleled access to Canadian and Western communications systems.

Delicate balancing act

Trudeau said federal government will have to balance the “extraordinary imperative” of keeping safe the communication of millions of Canadians free from interference and cyberattacks on the one hand and with interests of Canada’s telecommunications industry, with billions of dollars at stake in the new 5G technology and communications infrastructure investments, on the other.

“It shouldn’t at all be a political decision made on how we engage but a decision made by experts, a decision based on recommendations by our intelligence and security agencies, who have an extraordinary depth of expertise, who work regularly with our Five Eyes partners,” Trudeau told reporters during his year-end press conference in Ottawa.

Trudeau said the Five Eyes alliance includes countries that have banned Huawei – Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. – but also countries like the UK and Canada that have allowed their telecom industry to use Huawei equipment.

“How we move in a thoughtful way that both protects that both protects Canadians and allows us to participate in the innovations that are moving towards the future is an extremely important decision that we will make and take with all responsibility and thoughtfulness,” Trudeau said.

‘Groundless concerns’

Huawei’s Deputy Chairman Ken Hu fired back at company’s detractors on Tuesday.

During a press conference at the company’s new campus in Dongguan, Hu said nearly half of the world’s Fortune 500 companies, and hundreds of millions of consumers use Huawei equipment.

“Despite efforts in markets creating fear about Huawei, using politics to interfere with growth, customers continue to trust us and continue to work with us and build networks with our technologies,” Hu said.

“They turn this 5G security concern, which is industry- and technology-related in nature, into groundless speculations targeting specific companies. This is not putting the focus on how to improve and how to protect the technology itself, but ending up with speculations targeting particular companies out of ideological or geopolitical considerations.”

Hu declined to comment on the arrest in Canada of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzou on a U.S. arrest warrant, but expressed confidence in “the judicial independence and fairness” of the Canadian and U.S. legal systems.