Beijing on Friday slammed Canada’s “baseless” decision to exclude Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE from its 5G network in the name of national security.
The United States is urging its allies to give up ZTE and especially Huawei to equip their 5G networks, arguing that Beijing could use these firms to monitor a country’s communications and data traffic.
After years of dithering, Canada decided on Thursday to ban the two groups from its 5G network.
“This follows a full review by our security agencies and in consultation with our closest allies,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday.
Beijing expressed its dissatisfaction on Friday.
“China firmly opposes” this decision, spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, told reporters. The spokesperson assured that his country would take “all necessary measures” to protect Chinese companies.
Mr. Wang did not specify what they might consist of.
Canada already prohibited Huawei from participating in government tenders for basic network equipment, such as routers.
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