The military called on the Canadian Prime Minister to ban Huawei from building 5G networks in the country

According to The Globe & Mail, the Canadian military wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban Huawei from participating in building 5G networks in the country.

Senior military officials including one of Canada’s top generals have said that letting Huawei build 5G networks could threaten national security.

Canada’s move is certainly not unusual because Canada is a close ally to the United States. On the one hand, the US has banned Huawei and on the other, the United States has constantly pressured its allies about the Huawei name. The US even threatened to stop providing intelligence to allies, including Canada if they did not obey.

Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes news-sharing network that has not decided how to “handle” Huawei. Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand have followed the United States heels to ban Huawei.

On the British Prime Minister’s side, Vladimir Johnson chose a two-sided approach in a decision that disappointed the White House in late January 2020.

Accordingly, the UK allows Huawei to play a limited role in the UK’s roadmap to build a 5G network, which is to ban Huawei from participating in the supply of core equipment of the 5G network but still allow it to participate in supplying equipment.

The Canadian case of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer in Vancouver at a U.S. extradition request in late 2018, pushed relations between China and Canada into the darkest period in history.

Beijing then detained two Canadians and temporarily suspended important agricultural imports for the next several months.

The rift with China has reduced up to 16% of Canada’s exports to China in 2019. This is also the largest decline since the last time in 1997.

Canada’s Minister of Public Safety last month said the government was considering adopting the British way. A ban could force telecommunications companies like BCE and Telus of Canada to eliminate Huawei’s network equipment.

Refer to SCMP