Canada slammed for banning WeChat from official phones
China has criticised a move by Canada to ban Chinese messaging application WeChat on government-issued mobile devices, citing privacy and security risks. The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the Canadian government had issued a ban on Chinese enterprises without any real evidence, under the guise of maintaining data security. It said the ban on Tencent-owned WeChat abused national power and unreasonably suppresses the behaviour of enterprises in specific countries. "We hope that the Canadian side will discard ideological prejudices, abide by the principles of market economy and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises," said spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing. Ottawa also announced a ban on Russian anti-virus program Kaspersky, but said government information had not been compromised. "The decision to remove and block the WeChat and the Kaspersky applications was made to ensure that government of Canada networks and data remain secure and protected and are in line with the approach of our international partners," the Treasury Board of Canada, which oversees public administration, said in a statement. Kaspersky said it was surprised and disappointed, and that the decision was made without warning or an opportunity for the firm to address the government's concerns. Canada in February banned TikTok, the short-video app owned by Chinese company Bytedance, from government-issued devices due to similar privacy and security concerns. (Reporting by Reuters)