What Countries Have Banned Huawei?

Huawei is the massive Chinese telecom company that has mysterious financing and ownership.  Their murky connections to the Chinese Government and military are of such great concern that some Western nations and companies have severed ties with Huawei.

This is our third report in our series on the largest telecom company in the world.  Our other two are:

• 10 Short Answers To Why Huawei is so Scary To Western Countries
• Who Owns Huawei? A Fascinating Story

Which Countries Have Banned Huawei?

As of December 2018 there are just four countries that have bans on the use of Huawei cellular networking hardware:

1. The United States –  In 2012 the US federal government looked into Huawei’s ownership and management structure and concluded “Huawei did not fully cooperate with the investigation and was unwilling to explain its relationship with the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party, while credible evidence exists that it fails to comply with US laws.”
2. Japan – Japan banned new Huawei hardware in early December 2018 and required the removal of existing Huawei hardware from areas of key communication infrastructure.
3. Australia – Australia, Part of the Five Eyes network, banned the use of Huawei hardware in the critical 5G market in August 2018
4. New Zealand – In November 2018 New Zealand said they would take the same steps as their neighbor Australia.  “I have informed Spark (New Zealand’s primary cellular provider) that a significant security risk was identified,” said Government Communications Security Bureau intelligence Director-General Andrew Hampton.

Which Countries Are Likely To Ban Huawei in 2019?

The United States is one of the “Five Eyes” Intelligence Pact and has pressured it partners, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand to follow their lead and block the use of Huawei hardware.  The idea being that if the any of the five share intelligence information with a country that has Huawei hardware that sensitive data may be compromised.

In October 2018 U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, both on the US Senate Committee on Intelligence, told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that they had:

…”grave concerns” about the prospects of Huawei equipment in Canada’s 5G networks on the grounds that it would pose dangers for U.S. networks.  “While Canada has strong telecommunications security safeguards in place, we have serious concerns that such safeguards are inadequate given what the United States and other allies know about Huawei,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Trudeau.
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The US is bringing this type of public pressure to many countries.  Below is a list of countries that likely to ban or seriously limit the use of Huawei hardware in 2019.

1. United Kingdom – Is currently considering a ban on the use on Huawei systems
2. Germany – In the fall of 2018 Germany again began re-considering it’s extensive relationship with Huawei
3. Italy – Is under increasing pressure to ban Huawei
4. Canada – In December 2018 Canada arrested the Huawei CFO under a US warrant as she was changing planes in Vancouver.  Canada is under enormous pressure to block the use of Huawei hardware in the country.  However the arrest has strained Canada China relations and an outright ban of all Huawei hardware is unlikely in the coming months.  The short video below provides a good summary of the Canadian situation: