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Comment by jtregunna | Hacker News Reader

> As a Canadian citizen, I urge Canada to snub Huawei too.

I'm not a fan of Huawei, but I am a fan of retaining our sovereignty. If the US wants the privilege of suggesting how we should run our country, then perhaps they should work on their end to repair the bilateral relationship. Currently, my vote is to tell them "Mind your own damned business."

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We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18220722 and marked it off-topic.

Don't reject good advice just because whoever gave the advice doesn't have your best interest in mind. I've good some good advice from some otherwise awful people. Sometimes following the advice furthered their ends more than mind, but it was still the best course of action for me.

Sure, doesn't hurt to listen, but at the end of the day, that's just being polite. A courtesy. The decision is still entirely Canada's, and shouldn't be influenced by US congress critters.

The advice, and any specific allegations, should have been given much more discretely. Even in the best of times, Canadians don't like American politicians infringing on our sovereignty.

American politicians calling the Chinese security threats just means they are in the same club as ourselves as well as our Mexican and European friends. Senators Rubio and Warner will accomplish little by insulting our guests.

Huawei's bid deserves to be considered and evaluated... By Canadians, on our terms, rather than foreigners with their own agenda.

There are many people in the world who lack tact, but yet have good ideas at times. It would be to your benefit to learn to get useful things from such people. (I believe that group includes everybody at some point in their lives)

When we evaluate the bid, I'm sure we'll weigh previous occasions when Chinese firms placed spyware in hardware/firmware.

I'll point out we haven't rejected the advice.

What Canadians on this thread have rejected, is Yankee carpetbagging.

Asshole next door: "Hey, your house is on fire."

You: "Mind your business!"

Stopping the use of Chinese telecon for core infrastructure is a matter of national security, not a trade war.

who's goals are more aligned with yours? neighbors to the south who you share a lot in common with or a totalitarian government on the other side of the planet.

Trump specifically says he’s in it just for America. The old order of the friendly superpower is dead. NAFTA renegotians were evidence of that.

In his own words, "At least Canada knows where I stand,". The message has been received loud and clear up North.

So I’d say they’re probably equal. At least China hasn’t tried overtly to collapse our auto sector.

Textbook nonsequiter, well done.

Nations don't have friends, they only have interests.

Being overly dependent on "America First, Always" technology doesn't serve the Canadian interests.

You realize that there exist major infrastructure-hardware players outside of the US or China, right? Ericsson (of Sweden), for example.

> If the US wants the privilege of suggesting how we should run our country, then perhaps they should work on their end to repair the bilateral relationship

This article is based on the comments of two Senators, one a Republican who ran against Trump and the other a Democrat, asking Canada to do something. Given how close the American and Canadian economies are, it is of American concern that information which crosses north of the border might become vulnerable to Chinese exfiltration.

Sure, just saying, Canada should review any orders it makes towards telecom companies (full disclosure, I started and ran a telecom company from 2001 until 2010) from entirely a Canadian perspective and not account for any input from the US; doubly so given how the US government (like it or not, Trump is their president and reflects their government internationally) has treated Canada over the last year and a half.

Sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Uh, not my intent. I'm trying to illustrate that Canada has command and control regulations regarding telecommunication providers that operate in the country, and there are requirements for Canadian control. If equipment were factored into such decisions, that could go a way into resolving this problem. Though it'd probably create others. And for completeness, it's still Canada's decision to make, the rhetoric the US has been sending our way has left many of us feeling like the once good friend and neighbour, has decided that we're a threat to their national security.

EDIT: Clicked too soon.

I think the saying is "cutting your nose to spite your face"?

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