Just now! Chinese telecommunications companies suffered two consecutive attacks from the United States

Latest update time：2021-03-18

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Chinese companies suffered two consecutive blows in one day! On March 17, local time, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued subpoenas to several Chinese telecommunications companies; the United States revoked the operating authorization of two Chinese telecommunications companies in the United States.

US Department of Commerce issues subpoenas to several Chinese telecommunications companies

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued subpoenas to several Chinese communications suppliers, according to the website of the U.S. Department of Commerce on March 17. The subpoenas were issued to support the request to review transactions under Executive Order No. 13873, and the action taken was an important step in investigating whether transactions involving these companies met the standards set out in the executive order.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo did not specify which companies were subpoenaed in a statement on Wednesday . The Commerce Department said "the subpoenas are an important step in gathering information to determine possible actions to protect the safety of American businesses and workers" and expressed its hope to cooperate with the companies in this review.

(Source: U.S. Department of Commerce website)

The statement said, “The Biden-Harris Administration has been clear that the unrestricted use of services from untrusted communications technology suppliers (ICTS) poses national security risks. The subpoenas we issued today are an important step in collecting information that will enable us to determine possible actions to best protect American companies, the safety of American workers, and the national security of the United States. We hope to work with these companies to complete a thorough review.”

Revoking the U.S. operating authorizations of two Chinese telecom companies

According to Reuters on the 18th, on March 17 local time, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had begun to revoke the authorization of China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet to provide telecommunications services in the United States.

(Source: Reuters)

The FCC stated in a statement on its website that "promoting national security is an integral part of the Commission's public interest responsibilities, and today's action is intended to protect the nation's telecommunications infrastructure from potential security threats."

(Photo source: Huanqiu.com)

In the statement, the FCC described the above-mentioned companies as companies that are "indirectly and ultimately owned and controlled by the Chinese government" and declared that the agency "expressed concerns that subsidiaries of Chinese state-owned enterprises are vulnerable to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government." The statement also claimed that the above-mentioned companies "have not been able to eliminate" the US government's serious concerns about their authorization at this stage.

Since 2020, the United States has never stopped curbing Chinese telecommunications companies. According to reports, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order in April 2020, warning that the operating licenses of three Chinese state-owned telecommunications companies, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks, and China Telecom, in the United States may be revoked. In December of the same year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took action against Huawei and China Telecom, saying it had begun to revoke China Telecom's authorization to operate its business in the United States.

The US FCC has identified five Chinese companies as threats to national security

The United States has been using various means to suppress Chinese telecommunications companies in order to safeguard so-called U.S. national security.

Just last week, on March 12, local time, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Safety Department and the Department of Homeland Security (HHS) added five Chinese companies to the list of untrusted suppliers on Friday, arguing that the telecommunications equipment and services produced by these companies would pose "unacceptable risks" to U.S. national security and citizen safety. The five companies are: Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Hytera, and Dahua Technology .

The FCC document description shows: "The FCC Department of Public Safety and the Department of Homeland Security have published a list of communications equipment and services that are considered a threat to national security, in accordance with the requirements of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019."

(Image source: FCC)

Specifically, the reasons why the US has "identified the five companies as threatening US national security" are:

"Telecommunications equipment produced or provided by Huawei Technologies , including equipment or services that use telecommunications or video surveillance services produced or provided by that entity."

"Telecommunications equipment produced or provided by ZTE Corporation , including equipment or services that use telecommunications or video surveillance services produced or provided by such entity."

“Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced or provided by Hytera Communications Corporation for use for public safety, government facility security, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes, including equipment or services that use telecommunications or video surveillance services produced or provided by such entity.”

“Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced or provided by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. , Ltd. for the purpose of public safety, government facility security, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes, including equipment or services that use telecommunications or video surveillance services produced or provided by this entity.”

"Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced or provided by Dahua Technology Corporation for use for public safety, government facility security, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes, including equipment or services that use telecommunications or video surveillance services produced or provided by this entity."

In addition, Reuters reported on March 12, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Biden administration has notified some Huawei suppliers that it will tighten the conditions of previously approved export licenses and prohibit the export of components to Huawei for use in or with 5G devices.

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held on March 15, a reporter asked the spokesperson: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has determined that several Chinese companies including Huawei and ZTE threaten US national security. What is China's comment on this?

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the US's actions are totally unfounded and unreasonable. In order to maintain its technological monopoly and hegemony, the US government has generalized the concept of national security, abused state power, and used all means to suppress Chinese high-tech companies. This is a complete denial of the market economy principles that the US has always advocated, and it also exposes the hypocrisy of the US so-called fair competition.

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This article is compiled by Global IoT Observer from Financial News Agency, Global Network, Sensor Technology, etc.