No place in our game
On Dec. 1, the day Canadian authorities arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of U.S. investigators, Hockey Night in Canada rang in with that familiar brassy jingle …
Viewers would have spotted a more recent staple of the broadcast: Huawei’s clamshell-like logo. It beamed from under the hosts’ table and hovered over their shoulders. Thanks to a multimillion-dollar deal with broadcaster Rogers, the Chinese technology giant is at the very heart of Canadiana.
Such an expensive branding effort would be fine, except for this: the Chinese government, to which Huawei is intimately tied, has been virulently anti-Canadian.
Which is why Huawei should be banished from the game.
On Dec. 1, the day on which Canadian authorities arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of U.S. investigators, Hockey Night in Canada rang in with that familiar brassy jingle. After Don Cherry performed a mildly queasy fashion commentary of besuited players arriving for the night’s TorontoMinnesota game, the HNIC hosts hashed out the scandal that was the Maple Leafs’ six-year, $41.77-million contract for underperforming forward William Nylander.
Viewers would also have spotted another (though more recent) staple of the broadcast: Huawei’s clamshell-like logo. It beamed from under the hosts’ table and hovered over their shoulders. The company name fell from Ron MacLean’s lips as he introduced the segment. Thanks to a threeyear, multimillion-dollar deal with broadcaster Rogers, the Chinese technology giant is at the very heart of Canadiana, viewed each Saturday by almost two million Canadians.
Such an expensive branding effort would be fine, except for this: the Chinese government, to which Huawei is intimately tied, has been virulently anti-Canadian as of late.
The Chinese government’s harsh and arbitrary actions on behalf of the company, exercised solely to put pressure on Canada to release Meng, is why Huawei should be banished from the visual real estate of the country’s most enduring hockey program. As well, Canadians should boycott Huawei products.
In the weeks following Meng’s arrest in Vancouver, the Chinese government has threatened the Canadian government, arbitrarily detained two Canadian citizens and changed the sentence of an Abbotsford, B.C.-born convicted drug smuggler from 15 years imprisonment to death.
This sort of retaliatory diplomacy is particularly transparent in the case of Meng, who serves as Huawei’s chief financial officer. She is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, an exPeople’s Liberation Army engineer who parlayed his ingenuity and deep contacts with the country’s Communist party into what has become a leading global telecommunications concern. China is demonstrably not amused.
By contrast, Huawei’s Hockey Night in Canada gambit is part and parcel of an initiative to convince us that the company is but a producer of slick smartphones and advanced technology equipment. The company also sponsors the Ottawa Senators.
Though it still pales in comparison to the likes of Apple and Samsung, Huawei holds almost four per cent of Canada’s cellphone market share, and is growing. Meanwhile, the company’s technology and hardware have been key in the building of the country’s telecom infrastructure. It is one of the world’s biggest purveyors of 5G network hardware and knowhow. Huawei, so the company spiel goes, is more advanced and less expensive than its rivals.
Yet it is also deeply involved with the Chinese government. Consider how, when the federal government hinted at a ban of Huawei’s 5G equipment, China responded with something close to clueless rage. “I believe there will be repercussions” should Canada pursue such a ban, said Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Canada, in January. He also accused the federal government of “white supremacy” for daring to call for the release of the two Canadians detained following Meng’s arrest.
The feeling is reciprocal. According to a Chinese statute enacted in 2017, all Chinese companies must “support, co-operate with, and collaborate in national intelligence work and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are aware of.”
It’s why many companies and countries alike have been undeterred by Huawei’s schtick and Chinese government pressure. The four main U.S. carriers don’t carry Huawei smartphones; AT&T, one of the four, recently reneged on a deal to sell Huawei’s flagship phone. Vodafone, one of the world’s largest carriers, said it would temporarily stop buying the company’s 5G equipment, citing security concerns. Last summer, the Australian government banned Huawei and Chinese telecommunications equipment company ZTE from its 5G network for the same reason.
Canada has been permissive by comparison. Canadian academic institutions still readily accept Huawei’s money, to the tune of at least $500 million in direct research and development investment alone. In Canada, where R&D money isn’t always easy to come by, it is difficult to turn down Huawei’s largesse — even if it is very likely tied to the Chinese government.
Clearly, in the case of Hockey Night in Canada, turning down Huawei’s advertising is similarly difficult. Yet by festooning the HNIC set with Huawei’s logo, even after the Chinese government has kidnapped, threatened and sentenced to death Canadians after Meng’s arrest, HNIC broadcaster Rogers has cast a shadow over a venerable institution. The company should do the honourable thing and cancel its agreement with Huawei.
Furthermore, those put off by China’s treatment of Canadian citizens in the wake of Meng Wanzhou’s arrest should register their ire by not buying Huawei products. Huawei, the direct beneficiary of China’s thuggery, deserves neither our eyeballs nor our business.