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.”
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS