Canada to ban China’s Huawei and ZTE from its 5G networks

Canada says it will ban two of China’s biggest telecoms equipment makers from working on its 5G phone networks.

The restrictions against Huawei and ZTE were announced by the country’s industry minister on Thursday.

Francois-Philippe Champagne says the move will improve Canada’s mobile internet services and “protect the safety and security of Canadians”.

But Huawei Canada said it was “disappointed” by the decision, which it said was “political”.

“This is an unfortunate political decision that has nothing to do with cyber security or any of the technologies in question,” a statement said.

Several nations – including the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand – have already put restrictions on the firms.