Canada joins Five Eyes in ban on Huawei and ZTE

OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada will ban Huawei and ZTE from the country’s fifth-generation wireless network over national security concerns, a long-awaited decision it announced Thursday after years of pressure from allies.

“The threats to Canadians are greater than ever, and we will protect them,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters in Ottawa. “There are many hostile actors who are ready to exploit vulnerabilities in our defenses — we must redouble our efforts.”

The Trudeau government’s move to block gear and services from the Chinese telecoms may be more about symbolism than anything else.

With other countries imposing prohibitions of their own on Huawei and ZTE, major telecom players in Canada have been making decisions in anticipation of a ban.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne acknowledged Thursday that the vast majority of Canada’s 5G and even 4G networks already exclude products and services from the two companies.

Champagne told companies using Huawei and ZTE equipment to stop doing so — and rip it out. He stressed that telecoms will not be compensated for losses.

The Trudeau government also announced Thursday that it plans to introduce legislation to protect Canada's critical infrastructure in areas of finance, telecommunications, energy and transportation.

Ottawa’s announcement was delayed for years, likely amid testy bilateral tensions over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, which was followed by China’s detentions of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

The resolution of their cases last September and the safe return home of the Canadians opened the door for ban.

The Canadian government launched a national security review on telecommunications three years ago, a process that began before Chinese authorities rounded up Kovrig and Spavor.

Asked about the delay, Champagne said, “this has never been a race, this is about making the right decision.”

Until Thursday’s announcement, Canada had been the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance — which includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — yet to announce if it would allow the Chinese telecom giant to participate in its 5G.

Canada had been under pressure for years — especially from the U.S. — to block Huawei.

Last fall, top U.S. senators urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during face-to-face meetings to move quickly on his decision.

“One of the things I stressed to him, which he did not push back on, was the fact that the Huawei issue needs to be resolved sooner rather than later,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) told POLITICO in November on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum. “The other four of the Five Eyes have all jumped on board on that. And all over the world, people have jumped on board.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who was with Risch in Halifax and also met with Trudeau, said at the time: “Now that the two Michaels have been released, we are very hopeful there's going to be significant forward progress in this particular aspect of U.S.-Canada relations.”

In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to help push Huawei and ZTE out of American telecommunications networks by blocking broadband subsidies from companies that refused to rip out gear made by the two Chinese telecom firms.

The Trudeau government’s move comes as it takes steps to re-establish ties with China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner.

This week, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly told POLITICO she’s focused on rebuilding Ottawa’s damaged relations with Beijing.

Canada is likely bracing for a strong reaction to Thursday's telecom decision.

Lu Shaye, China’s then-ambassador to Ottawa, warned of “repercussions” shortly after Meng’s arrest, if Canada were to exclude Huawei gear from its 5G network.

But following Meng’s release, the Chinese government softened its tone somewhat.

Cong Peiwu, China’s current top diplomat to Canada, said in December that Ottawa’s decision on Huawei would have business-related impacts.

“I'd like to suggest someone (is) trying to politicize the issue and to try to abuse and overstretch the concept of national security,” Cong told a virtual event hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation. “And that is not conducive for people doing business here in Canada. That will be sending out a very wrong signal to the Chinese companies (and to) the companies of other countries as well.”

Mendocino, when asked Thursday about potential retaliation from China, said the government continues to be vigilant against the ever-evolving threats to Canada’s national security.

“We remain very much on high alert against belligerent actors,” he said.