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.”
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