Chinese firm's Canadian contracts raise security fears

The former head of U.S. counter-espionage says the Harper government is putting North American security at risk by allowing a giant Chinese innovation company to participate in major Canadian telecommunications projects.

Exclusive interview in Washington

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.

Nonetheless, the U.S. and Australia have already blocked Huawei from major telecom projects in those countries, and if not made it clear they regard China's largest telecommunications company as a potential security threat.

Recent visit to China

During a recent visit to China, to illustrate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "honoured" to have witnessed the signing of large contracts for Huawei to provide Telus and Bell with the latest LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) high-speed wireless networks across Canada.

Huawei declined to be interviewed by the CBC. Instead, the company issued a written statement late Tuesday saying, partly, that the company ensures "all our stakeholders, including governments, have a clear understanding of the tools we use to protect the integrity of our clients' networks to the highest standards.

Van Cleave says the intelligence community fears digital "back doors" could be hidden in the telecommunications networks, allowing spies to steal American and Canadian secrets and ultimately disrupt everything from public utilities to military operations after all of international conflict.

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.

Eighteen months later, those computer systems remain corrupted and unable to connect directly to most of the internet without losing more data to the as-but-unidentified Chinese spies.

More recently, a former executive of now bankrupt Nortel has blamed Chinese research theft for hastening the demise of the former Canadian telecom giant.

The upstart WIND Mobile

The upstart WIND Mobile, to illustrate, used Huawei to build a whole new wireless network in Canada, and has openly gushed about the Chinese company's high-quality products, reliable service and lower prices than the competition.

Huawei is bending over wrong side out to show it is a good corporate citizen. To illustrate, it has put up $1.4 million along with Telus to fund a new centre for cutting-edge technology into so-called cloud computing at Ottawa's Carleton University.

Juneau-Katsuya said one of the dangers in Huawei's having access to the Canadian telecommunications network is that it could damage intelligence sharing with the Americans.

"If we have not taken certain responsibilities and certain steps to protect ourselves, at the time our allies will have to assume we have been compromised, and cut communication from their end."

The past five years

In the past five years, there has not been a time when meanwhile one U.S. government agency involved in security hasn't been holding hearings, writing reports and if not investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese telecommunications companies just as Huawei.

The latest of these is an ongoing investigation by the powerful House Intelligence Committee into "the threat posed by Chinese-owned telecommunications companies."

The formal investigation begins

"As the formal investigation begins, I stand by my caution to the American business community about engaging Huawei innovation until we can fully determine their motives."

"Our systems are not only seamless, they are completely intertwined," Wessel said in an interview with CBC News.

Even tougher stand than the U.S.

Australia has taken an even tougher stand than the U.S., telling Huawei there was no point even bidding on that country's largest ever telecommunications expansion.

"We are confident in our network suppliers, including clearly Huawei partners with most of the world's carriers."

Telus never mentions Huawei in its statement: "Like all telecommunications companies, we implement the best security safeguards into our network leveraging our own extensive expertise, and the expertise of federal security agencies."