As a 5G network build-out is fast approaching on Canadian soil, a new poll shows that more than 75 percent of Canadians say that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government should ban China’s Huawei Technologies Co., reported Bloomberg. The online and telephone poll conducted by Nanos Research on behalf of the Globe and Mail was released on Monday.
Disapproval of Huawei by Canadians stemmed from 2018, when China imprisoned business executives Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig just days after its own government arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request. “The two Michaels” were held captive for more than 1,000 days in “grim conditions,” according to Bloomberg.
Spavor and Kovrig were released in September 2021, immediately after Meng boarded a plane to China, having struck a deal with the U.S. to resolve criminal charges, reported Bloomberg. China maintains the cases were unrelated, though Canada and its Western allies accused the country of “hostage diplomacy.”
According to Bloomberg, a ban on Huawei by Trudeau could further inflame relations between the two countries. Canada’s closest allies — the U.S., U.K., and Australia — have already banned the Chinese manufacturer from 5G operations.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, “Huawei’s 5G products have been recognized for their cutting-edge technology and security by the vast majority of operators in the world. Canada should abide by an objective and just attitude, and independently make a decision in keeping with its own interests.”
Reader Interactions