Canada bans China’s Huawei Technologies from 5G networks

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has decided to ban China’s Huawei Technologies from Canada’s next-generation mobile networks.

The development of 5G, or fifth-generation, networks will give people speedier online connections and provide vast data capacity to meet ravenous demand as more and more things link to the internet and innovations such as virtual reality, immersive gaming and autonomous vehicles emerge.

The U.S. has long pressed Trudeau’s government to deny Huawei a role in building the country’s 5G infrastructure, saying it would allow Beijing to spy on Canadians more easily.

The move was confirmed Thursday by a spokesman for Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies. It has been a symbol of China’s progress in becoming a technological world power—and a subject of U.S. security and law enforcement concerns. Some analysts say Chinese companies have flouted international rules and norms and stolen technology.

China, the U.S. and Canada completed what was effectively a high-stakes prisoner swap last year involving a top executive from Huawei who was charged with fraud. China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request.

Many countries labeled China’s action “hostage politics,” while China has described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China’s economic and technological development.

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