Thursday, January 17, 2019

Chinese envoy believes ‘there will be repercussions’ if Canada bans Huawei

Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Canada, warned Ottawa against banning Huawei from providing 5G telecommunications equipment, saying the country could face further repercussions.

Lu, speaking at a news conference to journalists on January 17th, 2019, did not elaborate on what further repercussions Canada could face as a result of the bilateral spat.

“I believe there will be repercussions,” Lu said referring to if Huawei would be banned. He spoke through interpreters on Thursday afternoon and urged Ottawa to make a “wise” decision.

Canada’s relationship with China has been sour since the beginning of December when Canadian authorities arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei’s president and founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on fraud-related charges. She was granted bail but faces extradition to the U.S.

In what appears to be another form of retaliation from the Chinese government, The Globe and Mail reported on January 16th, 2019, that a Canadian woman, her husband and her infant daughter were detained for approximately two hours in China.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor were previously detained shortly after Meng’s arrest and are currently held in custody by Chinese authorities.

More recently, China also sentenced Canadian Robert Schellenberg on January 14th, 2019 to death for drug smuggling, reportedly as another form of retaliation. Canadian teacher Sarah McIver was also detained but has been released.

Canada has had a relationship with the telecommunications giant since 2008. Huawei over the years has built research partnerships with several universities and is working with Bell and Telus to provide 5G equipment.

But because of fear of cybersecurity attacks, the U.S. banned the company from providing 5G equipment in August 2018. Following the U.S., Australia and New Zealand have also banned the company.

According to a draft of China’s national intelligence law that was released in 2017, all Chinese companies “shall support, cooperate with and collaborate in national intelligence work, and maintain the secrecy of national intelligence work they are aware of.”

In one of his last interviews, before he stepped down from his post, Huawei Canada’s vice-president of corporate Affairs Scott Bradley said he believed Canada would lose out on a great opportunity to be part of the 5G space if it banned the company.

“By banning Huawei are you worried about China’s emerging technology leadership? That’s a legitimate issue — perhaps you are. So how do you deal with that? Are you worried about how China will use technology for other purposes or around the world? … That’s again a legitimate issue regarding why you should be understanding what China is up to. But by banning Huawei do you address those issues?” Bradley said.

Lu is set to meet with Canadian lawmakers on January 18th, 2019 in an in-camera (closed to the media and public) meeting at the House of Commons Standing Committee Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Source: Reuters

The post Chinese envoy believes ‘there will be repercussions’ if Canada bans Huawei appeared first on MobileSyrup.



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