US State Department Welcomes Canada’s Long-Awaited Move to Ban Huawei, ZTE From 5G Network

Surveillance cameras are seen in front of a Huawei logo in Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 11, 2020. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)

The U.S. State Department says it welcomes Canada’s move in banning China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE from its 5G wireless infrastructure.

“We welcome Canada’s decision,” the State Department said in writing Friday in response to a query from The Canadian Press.

“The United States supports efforts to ensure countries, companies, and citizens can trust their wireless networks and their operators. We continue to collaborate with allies like Canada to ensure our shared security in a 5G future and beyond.”

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the long-awaited decision on May 19, a move critics say was long overdue.

“Telecommunications companies that operate in Canada would no longer be permitted to make use of designated equipment or services provided by Huawei and ZTE,” Champagne said in a press release.

“Companies that already use this equipment installed in their networks would be required to cease its use and remove it.”

“This follows a thorough review by our independent security agencies and in consultation with our closest allies,” he added.

Warnings about the threats posed by the two companies have long been voiced by the international intelligence community.

The United States first began restricting domestic firms from doing business with Huawei back in 2019, and has been waiting for Canada to follow suit ever since.

In June 2020, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said at the time the two companies introduce security concerns that allow China to exploit.

“We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure,” Pai said in a statement.

“Both companies have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus, and both companies are broadly subject to Chinese law obligating them to cooperate with the country’s intelligence services.”

The United States had also on multiple occasions publicly warned Canada that the failure to ban Huawei could impact Washington’s willingness to share intelligence, fearing the data may be compromised.

At the time, Canada was walking a tightrope with China, having arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 on a U.S. extradition warrant while working to free Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor who had been detained in retaliation by Beijing.

Kovrig and Spavor were freed last September after Meng reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. She was released soon after by Canada.

The ban will now align Canada with its Five Eyes intelligence partners, which have banned Huawei or announced a phasing-out of its equipment already used by domestic wireless carriers. The alliance includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Noé Chartier and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.