Photo taken on Nov. 20, 2019 shows Huawei's exhibition booth during a press preview for the 2019 World 5G Convention in Beijing, capital of China.(Xinhua/Li Xin)

Huawei said on Wednesday it looks forward to the Canadian federal government completing its 5G review and making an "evidence-based decision" about the company's role in helping build Canada's next-generation wireless networks, adding that its commitment to Canada remains "strong and unaltered."

The remarks came after two major Canadian telecommunications network operators, BCE and Telus Corp, said they will build their 5G infrastructure with equipment from European telecom vendors. 

The companies' choices came ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision on whether Huawei will be allowed to help build the country's 5G network.

A person close to the matter told the Global Times on Wednesday that the two mobile operators' so-called "ban" may only be applied to core networks. 

"We continue to grow our business by selling high-quality mobile devices that Canadians love and rely on. We continue investing a quarter of a billion dollars a year in R&D in Canada. We continue building new research partnerships with Canada's world-class universities. 

"As we have for more than a decade, we continue to work with our Canadian telecom partners to help them build and support state-of-the-art networks that connect Canadians," Huawei said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Whether to use Huawei is not an economic issue or even a so-called "national security" issue, but a political issue, Jiang Junmu, chief writer at telecom industry news website c114.com.cn, told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that the US' chip ban on the Chinese technology giant has forced other countries to "choose sides."

Britain's cyber-security center the NCSC announced on May 27 that it would conduct a new review into Huawei's role in the UK's 5G network, following US sanctions.

Jiang said countries may also be concerned about Huawei's ability to provide 5G equipment after the chip ban, even as media reported that the company had stockpiled two years' worth of chips.

However, if these countries choose to stand with the US and "rule out" Huawei from the key next-generation network, they must also face the grim reality that they could lag far behind in the 5G race, said experts.

"Higher construction costs, poor network performance, and a delayed 5G rollout time ... those are the direct impacts of not including Huawei," Jiang said.

"Huawei has worked closely with our customers in Canada for many years, helping them build some of the world's leading 4G LTE networks. We remain committed to supporting their world-class high speed networks. We thank all our customers for their partnership - which will evolve but continue in the years ahead," read the statement.

"In 12 years in Canada, we have never received a complaint from any of our customers about the integrity of our network equipment," said Huawei.