Warming Canada-China relations shouldn’t extend to Huawei ban, say security experts, parliamentarians

Archived link

As thawing bilateral relations between Canada and China produce new trading partnerships on electric-vehicles and agricultural products, it would “not be wise” for Prime Minister Mark Carney to revisit the government’s 5G ban on the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, according to former Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Ward Elcock.

“There’s an important security rationale behind keeping them off the 5G network,” Elcock, who led CSIS from 1994 to 2004, told The Hill Times. “If you allow a foreign communications network into your system, then you’re creating holes and gaps.”

“I don’t think it should be on the table … and I’d be very surprised if it is.”

...

Carney’s (Nepean, Ont.) trip to China last week marked the first time a Canadian prime minister had visited the nation in more than eight years. Following then-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s state visit in 2017, Canada-China relations deteriorated after the 2018 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, B.C., which was followed by China’s imprisonment of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

...

China was also identified by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue as one of the largest perpetrators of foreign interference in Canadian democratic processes, following a recent public inquiry into the subject.

“The Chinese would never have bought [now-defunct Canadian telecoms firm] Nortel, even though Nortel tried in vain to sell stuff to them,” said Elcock, also a former deputy minister of national defence. “So, I think it’s highly improbable, and the government would face a lot of criticism, if they allowed Huawei into our network.”

“It just makes no sense because of Canada’s security interests.”

...

However, some stakeholders suggested the 5G ban on Huawei may not be the most effective policy approach for Canada.

Ali Dehghantanha, a professor at Guelph University and Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Threat, ... explained that the ban was “easy” to bypass, as many Canadian firms continue to use Chinese materials and products in their offerings.

...

“Restricting access just because a vendor is headquartered in a certain place is meaningless,” Dehghantanha said ... “[Ottawa] needs to specify proper guidelines or mandates that, if a device wants to be deployed on the network, show what security criteria it has to pass,” he said. “That is something that is completely missing.”

...