China admits canola oil block is connected to Huawei
“China is not even trying to conceal the retaliatory aspect” of its recent blocking of Canadian canola oil at customs, tweeted former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney, referring to this piece from CBC:
China said Wednesday its suspension this week of the licence of a second major Canadian canola exporter — Viterra Inc. — is justified by safety concerns.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said China’s actions are “scientific and reasonable.”
But, he added, Canada should “take practical measures to correct the mistakes it made earlier” in dealing with the overall relationship.
The suspicious holdups of Canadian canola by China began early this month, only days after Canada approved extradition proceedings for Huawei CFO Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 (Access paywall).
Other Huawei news:
- “The presence of Chinese firms in Italy’s strategically important 5G sector is ‘concerning,’” said Italy’s privacy watchdog chief, according to Ansa (Italy).
- “The United States has made progress in convincing the European Union of the risks in using technology from China’s Huawei and will continue to push them on the issue, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said” on March 27, reports Reuters.
- Huawei CEO Eric Xu (徐直军 Xú Zhíjūn) stretched credulity in an interview with Canadian journalists, saying the company “would definitely not do it” if a direct order came from Xi Jinping to spy on other countries.
- Facebook shares data with Huawei, the social media company admitted on March 26, according to Reuters:
[Facebook said that] it has data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including Huawei, Lenovo, and smartphone makers OPPO and TC… [They] were among about 60 companies worldwide that received access to some user data after they signed contracts to re-create Facebook-like experiences for their users.”
