As parliament is about to sit, Canada's political persecution of Huawei should end
The logo of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei.
Written by: Owen Ford
At the upcoming winter session of the Canadian Parliament the federal Liberal government is expected to issue a decision as to whether Huawei Canada, subsidiary of Chinese electronics giant Huawei Technologies, will be permitted to continue to participate in Canada's rollout of 5G infrastructure. If not, it will be excluded on the basis of unsupported assertions its technology has been compromised by Chinese state interests and therefore present a security hazard to Canada's telecom infrastructure. Unfortunately, what should be a domestic commercial decision - whether or not Huawei can provide a competitive bid - has been subverted by political interference as Canada submits to the imperial machinations of our southern neighbour.
Since then-USA President Obama's 2011 'pivot to Asia', the Canadian public has been subjected to an increasing tide of anti-Chinese propaganda across state and corporate media. Driving this Sinophobia is the fact the United States regards China's rising commercial and social power as a direct threat to its post-Soviet global hegemony. From the start of Donald Trump's trade war against China in early 2018, the United States has employed increasingly aggressive tactics to counter this rise, leading to what increasingly appears to be a new cold war with China. Even talk of an eventual 'hot' war – unthinkable madness in a time of nuclear weapons - has been normalized and George Bush's polarizing 'you're either with us or against us' haunts the western polities once more.
One aspect of the US campaign has been the targeting of Huawei Technologies, the crown jewel of China’s tech sector, which has led the world in research and development of 5G technology from the start and competes directly with America's historically dominant big tech sector.
On October 11, 2018 the two chairs of the US Select Committee on Intelligence, Senators Rubio and Wagner, gave the Canadian government its marching orders:
“We are concerned about the impact that any decision to include Huawei in Canada’s 5G networks will have on both Canadian national security and “Five Eyes” joint intelligence cooperation among the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada… We hope that you will reconsider Huawei’s inclusion in any aspect of Canada’s 5G development.”
This was followed six weeks later, on December 1, 2018 by the United States issuing an arrest warrant for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on several transparently contrived charges of fraud carrying a maximum sentence of over 100 years. The alleged fraud involved Mme. Meng meeting in Hong Kong, China with a Chinese bank about a business arrangement in Iran, none of it within the jurisdiction of the USA. At the request of the US government, however, she was apprehended by Canadian Border Services Agency as she transited through Vancouver en route to a conference in Mexico. Six other nations along her route had not been asked. In the subsequent debacle of her nearly three-year detainment and eventual release, two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested in China for security violations.
Ms. Wanzhou had been an enthusiastic about living in Canada, sending her children to Canadian universities and living in a house she owned in British Columbia. The Trudeau government, however went out of its way to humiliate a leading citizen and CFO of one of the largest electronics firms on the planet on transparently political charges to curry the favour of Donald Trump.
Six days after her arrest, President Trump openly declared he intended to use Meng as a bargaining chip in his trade war with China. Chinese reprisals included cancellation in over a billion dollars of soybean contracts for Canadian farmers as well smaller cancellations of Canadian contracts for lobster and pork products.
Damage to Huawei's reputation will linger long after the resolution of Ms. Wanzhou's case.
It is worth noting that, despite considerable innuendo about “back doors” in Huawei products, there is no evidence that any of Huawei tech is compromised. In the two years since the Trudeau government first indicated it would issue a judgement on Huawei's participation, Canada's impressively funded intelligence agencies have not produced a shred of evidence to support accusations Huawei is secretly deploying Chinese government spyware. Huawei has granted access to its testing facilities in the UK, Canada, Germany, and Belgium to allow independent experts in signals intelligence and cyber security to assess its equipment and software.
No one has ever found a “back door.” However, the US government does compel US tech firms to insert “back doors”, to cooperate with its intelligence services to permit access to US-made tech products and services.
Why Huawei Should Be Allowed to Continue to Participate in Canada’s 5G Rollout
The following are some important reasons.
Huawei is a pioneer in the development of 5G tech and remains THE world leader in 5G innovation and deployment. Canadians would be well-served by permitting Huawei to continue to participate in a world-class deployment of Canada's 5G network, rather than turn over the development of the system to less-qualified companies.
Huawei technology remains about 30 per cent cheaper than its nearest competitors. Canadians accustomed to paying some of the highest internet and digital fees in the world would appreciate paying less, rather than more, for 5G services.
Huawei is an exemplary employer and asset to Canada's electronics industry. In 2021, Forbes ranked Huawei number eight in its annual list of World’s Best Employers.
Huawei Canada has made substantial investments in Canada's R&D infrastructure and funds research partnerships with institutions such as the University of British Columbia, the University of Waterloo, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Guelph, and Université Laval. It voluntarily provided the infrastructure to deliver internet connectivity to the mostly Indigenous Nations up north. It currently employs about 1600 high-paid workers in Canada: jobs that will be threatened by a governmental ban on Huawei’s further participation in Canada’s tech industry.
Collaboration and trade with the rising economic superpower China increases the resilience of the Canadian economy by shifting from over-dependence on a single trade partner, the United States, which appears to be entering a period of overall decline. Increasing involvement with China also brings trade opportunities with other nations through the rapidly expanding Belt and Road Initiative, the most significant development in global trade of the century.
On the other hand, obstructing Huawei signals to the international community that Canada is an unreliable partner not above politically interfering with established principles of free and fair trade; and is not genuinely independent in terms of its foreign relations but remains subservient to US interests.
Arbitrarily excluding Huawei Canada from participating in Canada’s 5G deployment would be a violation of World Trade Organization rules which prevent national governments from discriminating against foreign-owned companies licensed to operate in their jurisdictions.
Finally, the cost of Huawei technology already installed in existing Canadian telecommunications infrastructure is around $700 million. The Canadian providers involved have already indicated they will seek compensation from the government in the event Huawei tech is banned.
Trudeau’s action through inaction
Instead, the Trudeau government, through its inaction over two years, has intentionally left Canadian telecoms to take their chances, cynically calculating that through an excess of caution these will abandon Huawei Canada for less politically sensitive suppliers; and indeed this is becoming a reality.
A Huawei ban isn't about protecting Canada's 'security' at all. It is about circling the continental wagons and more deeply entwining our fate with our unreliable neighbour to the South at precisely that world-historical moment the global balance of power shifts away from North America.
With an eye to a future already upon us and mindful of our sovereignty, we should be broadening and developing Canada's international connections and shifting beyond a unipolar order that has clearly entered its death throes. It is time for the Canadian government to step aside, take it's hand off the scales, and let businesses compete on the level field of international trade upon which our prosperity is built.
To this end, the Hamilton Coalition to Stop The War is holding a press conference open to the public on January 31, 2022, the date on which Parliament resumes in Ottawa, calling for a “Course Correction on Canada-China Relations.” One of purposes of the press conference is officially to launch its Action network petition: “Allow Huawei Canada to continue to participate in Canada’s 5G rollout.” Conference presenters include Radhika Desai of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group, Winnipeg; William Ging Wee Dere, author of “Being Chinese in Canada, The Struggle for Identity, Redress and Belonging”; Yves Engler, well-known author and activist and Ken Stone of the Cross-Canada Campaign to Free Meng Wanzhou.
The registration link for the press conference is here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf-igqjIuE9VcMG5Ikxjk9bQyx0tlqEqN
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Owen Ford is a visual artist presently working in the Toronto film industry. He is an executive member of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War.
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