The University of Waterloo will distance itself from Chinese tech giant Huawei after its contract runs out this year to “safeguard scientific research” at the school, the university’s Vice-President for Research Charmaine Dean said.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
has warned Canadian academic institutions that research partnerships can be vehicles for espionage; they can compromise intellectual property and allow technological advancements with many applications to fall into the hands of the Chinese or other regimes.
Last year, the federal government
banned Huawei from Canada’s 5G wireless infrastructure over security concerns. Such concerns include Huawei’s alleged
links to the Chinese military, which the company has denied, and the Chinese national intelligence law requiring Chinese entities to help the state collect intelligence.
Dean said in a written statement that ending the university’s partnership with Huawei will leave a gap in research funding that she hopes Canadian businesses and the government will help fill.
The University of Waterloo is a hub for tech research and it started working with Huawei in 2016. In January, the university
told The Epoch Times it has new security assessment practices in place when evaluating research partnerships. That includes developing “a cross-campus team” to support safeguarding research.
The university said it follows the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships introduced by Ottawa in 2021.
“While the vast majority of research partnerships have transparent intentions that provide mutual benefits to all research partners, some activities by foreign governments, militaries and other actors—such as foreign interference and espionage—pose risks to Canada’s national security and the integrity of its research ecosystem,” the Government of Canada said in a news release at the time.
The Canadian Press, Andrew Chen, and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.
