The US national security adviser on Saturday urged Canada not to use Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s (華為) 5G technology, saying that doing so would jeopardize intelligence sharing with the US and expose Canadians to being profiled by the Chinese government.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau postponed a decision on whether to use Huawei 5G network equipment until after last month’s federal election. He has not commented on the issue since winning the Oct. 21 vote.
Intelligence sharing “would be impacted if our close allies let the Trojan horse into the city,” US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters at a security conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“When they [the Chinese] get Huawei into Canada or into other Western countries, they’re going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post, they’re going to know everything about every single Canadian,” he said.
The question of whether Huawei’s 5G equipment could contain backdoors allowing access to Chinese spying is dividing Canada and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network.
The US, Australia and New Zealand have bans in place, while the UK is taking a less firm line, saying Huawei’s 5G products could be used in less sensitive areas.
“We are going to take our time so that we can appropriately examine all potential threats,” said Canadian Minister of Defense Harjit Sajjan, who was also in Halifax.
“We have been extremely mindful in protecting our current 4G technology and the decisions that we make regarding 5G will make sure that these systems are as strong as our current system, if not stronger,” he said.
Canada has been caught in the middle of the US-China dispute over the company since Canadian police arrested Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) on a US warrant in December last year, a move condemned by China.
Beijing subsequently picked up two Canadian men in China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and charged them with spying. They are still being held.
The detention of the two men as “leverage ... shouldn’t be allowed to stand,” O’Brien said.
US Senator Angus King, who also spoke in Halifax, said “it would make it very difficult to have a full intelligence sharing information with a partner who has installed a direct line to Beijing.”
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