The US Democratic National Committee has warned party candidates running in November elections not to use devices made by Chinese telecommunications companies ZTE Corp (中興通訊) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為), because they pose a security risk, a source said on Friday.
US lawmakers and the administration of US President Donald Trump have pressured US firms to not sell Huawei or ZTE products, saying that they could potentially be used to spy on Americans.
Earlier this year they pushed AT&T Inc to drop a deal to sell Huawei smartphones in the US.
The source said committee chief security officer Bob Lord said in an e-mail that it was important for party and campaign workers to be vigilant about the warnings.
“Please make sure that you are not using or purchasing ZTE or Huawei devices anywhere within your staff — for personal or work-related use,” Lord said.
US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai in March told US Congress that he shared the concerns of US lawmakers about espionage threats from Huawei.
“Hidden ‘back doors’ to our networks in routers, switches — and virtually any other type of telecommunications equipment — can provide an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data and more,” Pai said at the time.
The US Department of Defense has already stopped selling mobile phones and modems made by Huawei and ZTE in stores on its military bases, citing potential security risks.
Separately, Huawei on Friday said that it could replace Samsung Electronics Co as the world’s top smartphone maker by late next year, just days after data showed that it has surpassed Apple Inc for the No. 2 spot, despite being essentially barred from the key US market.
Huawei consumer products division head Richard Yu (余承東) made the remark at the release of business results for the first half of this year, during which unlisted Huawei said it shipped more than 95 million smartphones, an increase of about 30 percent.
“It’s no question that we become the No. 2 next year. In Q4 next year it’s possible we become No. 1,” Yu said in Shenzhen, China, where Huawei is based. “The past six months have been incredible.”
Additional reporting by AFP
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
RSS