Canadian University Researchers Continue to Work With China’s Huawei

Signage of a Huawei office is pictured in Kanata, Ont., on May 24, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

University researchers are continuing to work with China’s Huawei despite a federal ban on the use of the firm’s equipment in Canada’s 5G network being issued last May on security grounds, a parliamentary committee heard.

In a hearing on March 21 to study the impact of commercializing Canada’s intellectual property, the Standing Committee on Science and Research learned that university researchers are still working with the Chinese technology giant “in any form.”

“I have a patent assignment agreement here with me,” said Conservative MP Dan Mazier to professor Gail Murphy, vice-president of Research & Innovation at the University of British Columbia (UBC), who appeared as witness, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The document was a patent filing by UBC and Huawei in July 2021. Read by Mazier at the hearing, it stated that the university “do[es] hereby sell, transfer, and assign to Huawei Technologies Canada, all our interest in inventions and developments relating to photonic elements driven by common electrical driver.”

The filing added that UBC granted the Chinese telecommunication firm “all right, title, and interest in any and all intellectual property therein.”

According to Photons Canada, a business-led photonics organization, photonics is the science and technology of light with applications in important economic sectors such as aerospace, automobile, communications, defense and security, energy, health and medical, microelectronics, and natural resources.

“How many patents has the University of British Columbia filed with or transferred to Huawei?” Mazier asked.

“I would be happy to table that information, the quantitative information later,” replied Murphy, adding that the university’s research security guidelines “have evolved” with the federal government.

“We have been changing our agreements in that respect and have moved to new standards.”

“Do you continue to work with Huawei in any form?” Mazier probed.

“Yes, we do,” Murphy said.

‘Not in a Position to Comment’

UBC spokesman Kurt Heinrich told The Epoch Times that the university is “well aware of the changing geo-political landscape” when asked why it continues to work with Huawei given Ottawa has already banned the firm from participating in the country’s 5G network.

“UBC is not in a position to comment on the federal government’s policies vis a vis foreign companies in Canada. Decisions on the regulations of companies are made by the federal government,” Heinrich said in a statement.

The spokesman said the partnership with Huawei falls under applied research where organizations engage researchers in projects to “help solve problems.”

He stressed that research partnership agreements were entered consistent with UBC’s core values and academic mandate. “[The University-Industry Liaison Office] also ensures that UBC complies with any legal restrictions regarding working with foreign companies,” he said.

According to Heinrich, UBC received $6.3 million in sponsored research funding from Huawei in 2022, representing 0.8 percent of the university’s total annual research funding, or about 3.8 percent of annual sponsored research funding.

It is not known how the research funding from Huawei got approved since the federal government had scrutinized research partnerships by releasing new guidelines for grant applications under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) program on July 12, 2021.

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said at the time that grant applications would now require a risk-assessment process that involves the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency.

‘Serious Concern’

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s graduate school of public and international affairs, took to Twitter on March 21, expressing her concern about UBC’s research ties with Huawei.

“Huawei works directly with China’s military. Photonics is one of the PLA’s top priority technologies to acquire from other countries. Unless this agreement has been cancelled under the subsequent national security review (unlikely), this is a serious concern,” she said.

Mazier also tabled a June 2020 patent filing by the University of Calgary (UCalgary) with Huawei at the hearing on Tuesday. He asked similar questions to professor William Ghali, vice president of research at UCalgary, who appeared alongside Murphy.

“How many patents has your university applied for with or transferred to Huawei?” the MP asked.

“I don’t have those numbers at my fingertips,” Ghali replied.

“I think your question is of course a very pertinent one, particularly in the current time where there is a heightened attention to matters of research security.”

The professor added that his institution is working under new federal guidelines to safeguard research with input from CSIS and Public Safety Canada.

“Do you continue to work with Huawei in any form?” Mazier asked.

“Not at this time, because of guidance that has come to us through the bodies I just mentioned,” Ghali said.