Huawei to grow Canadian R&D budget to make equipment more secure: president

The president of Huawei Canada says it will be getting a piece of the $2 billion US that its global Chinese parent will spend over five years to hire more software engineers to make its equipment more secure, resilient and efficient.

Huawei Canada president Eric Li said in a statement that its "top priority" has been the security and integrity of the networks that it supports through its technology.

A company spokesman said Huawei's head office in Shenzen hasn't decided how much additional money and staff will be allocated to its Canadian operation, which employs about 500 people at its research and development facilities.

Li's announcement comes as Huawei Technologies Ltd. faces intense pressure as the United States and some of Canada's other allies move to shut the China-based company out of their networks on national security grounds.

The Canadian government is also investigating the national security implications of having advanced fifth-generation wireless networks use equipment by a China-based company that's legally subject to Beijing's government.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told reporters earlier this week in a rare media briefing that the private company would "definitely say no" if the Chinese government requested its help to facilitate spying, as required by a 2017 law.