The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is to ban approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Inc (華為) and ZTE Corp (中興) in the US on national security grounds, an agency document said.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week circulated the proposed ban to the other three commissioners for final approval.
The companies are not to be able to sell new equipment in the US without authorizations.
Photo: EPA
“The FCC remains committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” Rosenworcel said in a statement on Thursday.
The FCC faces a congressional deadline next month to act.
The FCC voted in June last year to ban approvals for equipment in US telecommunications networks from Chinese companies deemed national security threats, including Huawei and ZTE.
That came after a designation in March last year of five Chinese companies on the so-called “covered list” as posing a threat to national security under a 2019 law aimed at protecting US communications networks: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp (海能達通訊), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co (杭州海康威視數字技術) and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co (浙江大華技術).
The FCC in June last year said that it was considering banning all equipment authorizations for all companies on the covered list.
This year, the FCC added Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp, China Mobile International USA, Pacific Networks Corp and China Unicom (Americas) to the covered list.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr last year said that the FCC had approved more than 3,000 applications from Huawei since 2018.
In 2019, the US placed Huawei, Hikvision and other firms on its economic blacklist.
Also in 2020, the FCC designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats — a declaration that barred US companies from tapping an US$8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies.
Earlier this year, the Chinese embassy in Washington said that the FCC “abused state power and maliciously attacked Chinese telecom operators again without factual basis.”
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS