The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, says that Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and that this decision sends a signal that any attempt by any company to compromise the security networks of the US will not be tolerated. U.S.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, said Tuesday that Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE have ties to the Chinese Communist Party and warned American wireless providers of the risks of doing business with them.
“What we found was that these two companies, Huawei and ZTE, had ties to the Chinese Communist Party, they had ties to China’s military apparatus, the People’s Liberation Army,” Pai told “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Tuesday. “In addition to that, they are required, under Chinese law, if they receive a request from the Chinese secret police, the intelligence services must comply with it, and they are prohibited from disclosing the fact of that request to any of their clients.”
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On Tuesday, the FCC designated Huawei and ZTE as threats to national security, and prohibited American companies from using subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei and ZTE. The rule was previously approved in November, but Huawei and ZTE had an opportunity to demonstrate that they are not security threats.
The move may complicate business for the smallest wireless and internet service providers in the United States, as they have been frequent customers of Huawei and ZTE. The Rural Wireless Association, which represents 50 wireless service providers with less than 100,000 subscribers, said in a December 2018 presentation that a quarter of its members at the time were using equipment from Huawei and ZTE.
Pai said Tuesday that the FCC has been working with Congress on “tear and replace” legislation to get rid of troubled equipment, and the risks outweigh the benefits of working with these Chinese companies.
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“If we talk about small rural carriers in the United States, it is not a risk that we think is worth taking, which could allow all kinds of intrusions, the installation of back doors, the infection of our networks with malware, theft of property Intellectual, “Pai told FOX Business.” There are all kinds of risks that just aren’t worth taking here in the United States, and I would say in the rest of the world. ”
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks also reiterated Tuesday the need to dispose of existing equipment across the United States that poses a security threat.
“Today’s actions will help protect our networks against new threats from Huawei and ZTE equipment,” Starks said in a statement. “However, we must not lose sight of the unreliable equipment that is already installed. Last year, I called the FCC to find the unreliable equipment in our networks, to fix the problem by instituting a replacement program, and to fund the replacement of that equipment. Find them. Fix it up. Finance it. The Commission has taken important steps to identify problem equipment in our systems, but there is much more to do. “
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Huawei and ZTE have continually denied that they pose any kind of security threat to the United States or the rest of the world. Huawei Technologies USA security director Andy Purdy told FOX Business in December that its products “are not subject to undue influence from the Chinese government.”
Huawei and ZTE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Still, Pai said the United States’ allies in South America, Europe and Asia are also increasingly weary of the threats posed by these Chinese communications giants.
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“There is growing recognition worldwide that the Chinese Communist Party presents a unique threat to communication networks, and here in the United States, we are sending a signal that we will no longer be able to tolerate that threat,” Pai said.
This comes amid tensions between the US and China over Hong Kong, trade, the coronavirus pandemic, and China’s oppression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took steps Monday to end the United States’ special treatment of Hong Kong because of a new national security law that will give Beijing dramatically more control over the former British colony.
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