Huawei Canada says it is “committed” to take steps needed to ensure 5G rollout happens and is willing to sign no-spy agreements with the Canadian government.
The company said in an emailed statement to MobileSyrup:
“Huawei Canada is committed to take whatever reasonable steps are deemed necessary to ensure 5G rollout is secure. This includes our willingness to sign agreements with government. Over the last 10 years in Canada we have never had a single issue and work closely with the government in providing the information necessary to conduct its risk assessments.”
The statement comes shortly after one of Huawei’s rotating chairmen, Liang Hua, said the company would be willing to sign similar no-spy agreements with governments, especially with respect to the United Kingdom.
Reuters reported at a conference in London, U.K., that Liang said through interpreters: “We are willing to sign no-spy agreements with governments, including the U.K. government, to commit ourselves to making our equipment meet the no-spy, no-backdoors standard.”
Tensions between Canada and China began shortly after Huawei’s global CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December. Since then, the Chinese government arrested two Canadian diplomats alleging they are a national security threat. The country has also sentenced a Canadian drug dealer to death. The U.S. charged Huawei and its subsidiary Skycom with 13 counts of bank and wire fraud. Canada has proceeded with the extradition case of Meng. Meng has since sued Canada’s RCMP and the CBSA, and Huawei has sued the U.S. government.
More recently, the B.C. Supreme Court set dates for the disclosure application and provided more details on changes related to Meng’s bail. The court did not disclose details regarding her extradition. However, Meng has applied for a stay of extradition, meaning her lawyers will be arguing to have her case to be extradited to the U.S. thrown out.
A review of Huawei and 5G in Canada is currently being conducted and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said a decision may come before the federal election. However, a government source told Bloomberg that a decision may now happen after the election.
In any case, it’s important to note that Goodale was specifically speaking about the ongoing review of 5G technology and not on specific companies.
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