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.”
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,