By Canadian Press

Tories push Liberals to decide 5G, Huawei amid China imprisonment of Kovrig, Spavor

Nov 17, 2020 | 9:09 AM

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says Chinese telecom giant Huawei rose to dominance by stealing the technology of the defunct Canadian firm Nortel.

O’Toole is levelling the industrial-espionage charge against Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party as he announces that the Conservatives are pushing the Liberals to decide within 30 days which companies can provide Canada’s next-generation 5G wireless internet technology.

The Conservatives are tabling a motion in the House of Commons that demands the government decide whether Huawei ought to be banned from participating amid the ongoing diplomatic dispute between Canada and the People’s Republic.

China has imprisoned two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in apparent retaliation for the RCMP’s arresting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou nearly two years ago on a U.S. extradition warrant.

The United States is pressuring Canada and its allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network to ban Huawei because it views the company as an espionage arm of the Chinese state, a charge the company denies.

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O’Toole says he wants the matter debated in the House of Commons and wants a new strategy to deal with China, because the Liberals have not done enough stand up to its intimidation of Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2020.

The Canadian Press