PM Harper And Premier Wall Are Putting North American Security At Risk By Allowing Huawei To Participate In Major Canadian Telecommunications Projects
The former head of U.S. counter-espionage says the Harper government is putting North American security at risk by allowing a giant Chinese technology company to participate in major Canadian telecommunications projects.
In an exclusive interview in Washington, Michelle K. Van Cleave told CBC News the involvement of Huawei Technologies in Canadian telecom networks risks turning the information highway into a freeway for Chinese espionage against both the U.S. and Canada.
Huawei has long argued there is no evidence linking the company to the growing tidal wave of international computer hacking and other forms of espionage originating in China.
Nonetheless, the U.S. and Australia have already blocked Huawei from major telecom projects in those countries, and otherwise made it clear they regard China's largest telecommunications company as a potential security threat.
Van Cleave, who served as top spy-catcher for the Bush administration until 2006, describes Huawei as a potential "stalking horse" for Chinese military and intelligence objectives. Even Canada's own intelligence agencies have warned the Harper government of the risks of throwing open the door to Chinese telecom companies. [...]
'Considerable risk' to Canadians
The Harper government's own Department of Public Safety warned more than a year ago that Canada's telecommunications network is too important to be left to foreign companies. In a secret memo written in 2011 and obtained under the Access to Information Act, a senior public safety official says "the security and intelligence community" believes that throwing open the Canadian telecom market to foreign companies "would pose a considerable risk to public safety and national security."CBC.ca
