OTTAWA — Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu is calling on the federal government to ignore "invented" warnings from the U.S. about the threat posed by Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Canada remains the only member of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance that has yet to decide on whether to let Huawei participate in Canada's 5G network.

The U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand have all banned or restricted Huawei's involvement in their own networks over concerns about potential Chinese government spying.

But during a wide-ranging discussion hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont., Cong accused the U.S. of having made up such concerns to hurt Huawei and China.

Cong also warned Canada against any official contacts with Taiwan, which China considers a rogue province.

And he accused the U.S. of politicizing sport by planning a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2021.

The Canadian Press