US FCC proposes to ban equipment from five Chinese companies including Huawei

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to approve a plan to ban the use of equipment from five Chinese companies in U.S. telecommunications networks on the grounds of "national security threats." The companies involved include Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Hytera and Dahua.

According to reports, Chinese companies included in the ban by the United States include Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua Technology and radio and communication system manufacturer Hytera. Among them, cameras produced by Hikvision and Dahua Technology are common in American schools and local government facilities.

According to reports, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4 to 0 on the same day to propose the proposal, declaring that it would ban these companies from selling specific telecommunications and surveillance equipment to the United States.

The US has proposed a ban on suppressing Chinese companies. The US side made the following excuses:

According to Reuters, FCC Acting Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel declared, "We are taking direct action to exclude untrusted equipment and vendors from communications networks."

Rosenworcel also said, "Our equipment authorization process provides an open opportunity for (Huawei and other Chinese equipment) to be used in the United States, so we recommend closing that door."

The report mentioned that in the proposal that received preliminary approval, the FCC also claimed that it might revoke the authorization for the equipment of the five Chinese companies. The report said that this move might force schools and other American customers to replace their camera systems.

In March 2021, the FCC designated five mainland companies as threats to U.S. national security, including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua Technology Co., Ltd., pursuant to a 2019 law aimed at protecting U.S. communications networks.

FCC Acting Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel believes that the new measures will "exclude untrustworthy equipment from our communications networks...We previously provided opportunities for (Huawei and other Chinese equipment) to be used in the United States through the equipment authorization process. Therefore, we propose to close this door."

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the FCC has approved more than 3,000 applications from Huawei since 2018. The latest proposal passed by the FCC will ban all communications equipment that is considered to pose an unacceptable risk to national security in the future.

However, the FCC did not specify when these devices posing national security threats must be removed, but it will seek opinions on an appropriate and reasonable transition period.

Chinese companies also responded and refuted the US's targeted actions.

According to foreign media reports, a Huawei spokesperson responded in an email that the measures planned by the FCC are "misleading and unnecessary punitive measures." Huawei said: "Preventing the purchase of equipment based on 'predictive judgments' related to country of origin or brand is worthless, discriminatory, and does not help protect the integrity of the US communications network or supply chain."

Hikvision responded in an email that the claim that its company posed a national security threat was unfounded and that it strongly opposed the FCC's move.

Dahua Technology said it has never posed any threat to U.S. national security and criticized the FCC's latest action as groundless.

Hytera said its products do not pose a national security threat to any country and that the FCC's move is inconsistent with Washington's standard approach to assessing and mitigating risks.

The crackdown on Chinese companies continues

On October 7, 2019, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce added a new batch of "Entity Lists". There are 28 Chinese companies on the list, including 8 well-known domestic technology companies such as Hikvision and Dahua Technology, covering artificial intelligence, security, Internet of Things, electronic data and other aspects.

In 2020, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission listed Huawei and ZTE as "national security threats" to communications networks and banned U.S. companies from using $8.3 billion in government funds to purchase equipment from the two companies.

In December 2020, the Federal Communications Commission finally formulated a rule requiring operators with ZTE or Huawei equipment to "remove and replace" the equipment. The commission proposed a compensation plan for the removal and replacement of equipment, and the U.S. Congress approved $1.9 billion in funding for it that month.

On June 3, 2021, Biden signed an executive order restricting US entities from investing in dozens of Chinese defense and technology companies. So far, the number of companies on the investment "blacklist" has expanded to 59, including Huawei, SMIC, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, etc. According to this executive order, US investors are not allowed to invest in companies involved in the "list" after August 2 this year, and investors are also required to sell the relevant stocks they already hold within the next year.

For some time, the US government has frequently suppressed Chinese companies. On June 17, when Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian hosted a regular press conference, a Bloomberg reporter asked: "US regulators are preparing to impose a ban on products of Chinese companies such as Huawei, which means that these companies will be prohibited from selling related products in the United States. What is China's comment on this?"

Zhao Lijian responded: "The US should immediately stop generalizing the concept of national security, stop the unreasonable suppression of specific Chinese companies, and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies to operate normally in the United States. China will continue to support relevant companies in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law."

Zhao Lijian said that to this day, some people in the United States still generalize the concept of national security and abuse state power to suppress specific countries and companies without any evidence. This is naked economic and technological bullying, and it is another blatant denial of the market economy principles that the United States has always advocated.