There have been recent reports that have indicated that there are a few countries around the world that will be banning the use of Huawei and ZTE’s communications equipment in their infrastructure. It was also recently speculated that Canada could be considering a similar move, where such a move could end up costing carriers at least $1 billion.However it seems that it might be just that: speculation. According to a report from CBC, Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has called the reports of a Huawei ban “speculation”. Speaking to CBC Radio’s The House, Goodale said, “The issues are being very carefully considered by Canadians. We have not arrived at a conclusion.”
The report goes on to claim that the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance (an alliance between the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand that shares intelligence information) met in July where a discussion of a potential ban took place. So far the US, Australia, and New Zealand have put the ban into effect, with the US urging the rest of its allies (including Canada) to do the same, but whether or not they will remains to be seen.
So far from what we gather, concerns of Huawei and ZTE spying on behalf of China seems to stem from a draft of China’s national intelligence law, where it states that all Chinese companies “shall support, cooperate with and collaborate in national intelligence work, and maintain the secrecy of national intelligence work they are aware of.” Given how big of a role Huawei and ZTE play in supplying communications equipment to various carriers around the world, it is understandable why some governments might be worried.
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