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DAKAR — Stephen Harper said on Friday that Canada wants a growing relationship with China, but that its investments must be scrutinized from a national security perspective.

Ottawa has indicated it will exclude Chinese telecommunication equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from helping build a secure government communications network because of possible security risks, and is also in the midst of reviewing a controversial $15.1 billion Chinese bid for Canadian oil and gas explorer Nexen Inc.

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“We will ensure as a government that we have not only a growing relationship with China but a relationship with China that is in Canada’s best interests,” Harper said on a visit to Dakar, Senegal.

“And of course … there’s a national security dimension to this relationship, in fact to all our activities, that we take very seriously,” he added.

“The relationship with China is important, but at the same time it’s complex. It’s complex because the Chinese obviously have very different … economic and political systems, and that’s why some of these particular transactions raise concerns,” he said.