Huawei in Canada: lawmakers push Justin Trudeau on 5G ban
- Legislators pass non-binding motion urging the government to establish a strategy to combat China’s increased spying activity and intimidation of Canadians
- Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that has yet to ban the Shenzhen-based telecoms giant from its next-generation mobile network
Lawmakers passed a motion demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decide within 30 days whether to ban Huawei Technologies Co. from Canada’s next-generation wireless network.
The non-binding motion, put forward by the opposition Conservatives, also urges the government to establish a strategy to combat China’s increased spying activity and intimidation of Canadians.
It passed in the Ottawa legislature Wednesday by a vote of 179 to 146, with the support of some members of Trudeau’s own Liberal Party.
The symbolic move comes with relations between the two countries severely strained by the 2018 arrest of a top Huawei executive in Vancouver on a US extradition request, and Beijing’s subsequent jailing of two Canadians.
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China urges Canada to immediately release Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou
Tensions have flared anew in recent months over Hong Kong and China’s persecution of its Uygur Muslim minority.