A higher number of respondents also expressed negative views toward China more generally, with 66% having an 'unfavourable' position toward the country

OTTAWA — A growing number of Canadians are wary of a bid by China’s Huawei Technologies to build its 5G mobile network in Canada amid deteriorating relations between the two countries, a new poll suggests.

A poll by the Angus Reid Institute on Wednesday found 69 per cent of respondents believe Ottawa should reject the company’s bid to construct the next-generation infrastructure, which could dramatically increase the speed and capacity of Canada’s mobile network. Ottawa is currently reviewing an application by Huawei to build the network, alongside Canadian partner Telus Mobility.

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A higher number of respondents also expressed negative views toward China more generally, with 66 per cent having an “unfavourable” position toward the country, compared with 51 per cent in 2018. Just 22 per cent of respondents now support efforts to increase trade ties with China, down from 40 per cent in 2015.

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The results come amid increasing hostilities between Ottawa and China’s communist government following Canada’s December 2018 arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was charged at the request of U.S. authorities on allegations tied to the company’s dealings in Iran.

The Chinese government responded with threatening calls for Ottawa to release Meng, who is the daughter of company founder and Chinese billionaire Ren Zhengfei. Chinese officials have detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and have targeted imports of various Canadian agricultural products as a way to retaliate against Canada.

“In the last year, Canadians have been very aware that their country and their citizens have been on the receiving end of what is an increasingly fraught diplomatic crisis with China,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute.

Some observers have called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take a harder stance on China, after his initial attempts to sign a free trade agreement with the country came to an abrupt end.

Canadians’ wariness toward China stretches back decades, Kurl said, stemming from the need to strike a difficult balance between the country’s immense economic opportunity and its dismal human rights record. But polls show that that wariness has intensified since last December.

“What has been different in the last year is the very tangible impact of China’s actions as a result of the Meng arrest,” she said.

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Experts are divided on whether Huawei’s application poses a national security threat to Canada’s interests. Many argue that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are beholden to government authorities, and are sometimes used to carry out the wishes of the Chinese communist regime. Chinese officials roundly reject those claims.

Huawei is a private company and not an SOE, but still plays a crucial role in China’s strategic interests abroad, said Scott McKnight, a China expert at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

“The overwhelming government reaction to her detention shows that this is a special type of company,” he said.

McKnight said the “triangular relationship between party, state and business is too interlocked for there to be any real independence” on the part of Chinese companies.

Industry Minister Navdeep Bains has not yet released a timeline on when Ottawa will come to a decision on the Huawei application.

McKnight points to a recent demand by China that all government institutions stop using foreign-made computers and software within three years as evidence that the country has hardened its stance against foreign powers who challenge Huawei’s expansion plans. The U.S. has been calling on other Western allies to ban the Chinese company from building their 5G networks, citing security concerns.

Some countries like the U.K. have expressed skepticism toward accepting Huawei technology while others, including Germany, have said they would consider signing contracts with the firm.

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Brian Lee Crowley, an outspoken critic of China and managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Ottawa should be especially cautious of the company considering the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.

The Chinese president has sought to position China as a rival to the U.S. on the world stage through increased trade ties, military might, and the adoption of Chinese technology.

“He wants the world to revert to the kind of arrangement or the kind of mentality that prevailed in Asia back when China was the dominant power in centuries past, where everybody else was essentially a tributary to China,” Crowley said.

He said Trudeau should walk back past attempts to take a soft stance toward China, who is unlikely to admit wrongdoing or come to a compromise.

“There is no negotiation between equals on this,” he said. “I think China’s position is: ‘You don’t cross China or we’ll hang up the phone on you,'” he said.

The Angus Reid Institute poll surveyed a random selection of 1,499 people, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.