Canada to exclude Huawei from government projects

The Canadian government said it will bar Chinese technology firm Huawei Technologies from taking part in large government communications projects due to security concerns, South China Morning Post reported. The government used an exemption that enables it to exclude parties for national security purposes without contravening international trade obligations. Canada considers Huawei too great of a security risk to assist in building a network used for secure government calls, emails and data. Huawei has protested the decision, saying that the exemption can only be invoked against foreign companies. “Huawei is fully incorporated in Canada, and operates as a subsidiary Canadian company. This alone effectively enables us to bid on any potential procurement opportunities,” Scott Sykes, vice-president of Huawei, said. The company has won large network supply deals in the past and has worked with domestic operators Telus (TU.NYSE, T.TSE, T.A.TSE, BC2N.FRA, BC2.FRA) and Bell Canada. A US congressional committee labeled the company a threat to national security earlier this week.