U.S. officials on Thursday blocked a Chinese state-owned telecom company from operating here and offering phone services to American customers, while sounding fresh fears that Beijing seeks to snoop on U.S. communications networks.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai By Tony Romm Tony Romm Staff writer covering technology policy Email Bio Follow May 9 at 1:53 PM U.S. officials on Thursday blocked a Chinese state-owned telecom company from operating in the United States and offering phone services to American customers, expressing fresh fears that Beijing seeks to snoop on U.S. communications networks.
The agency’s Republicans and Democrats largely agreed, and some encouraged the FCC to take additional, future steps to block Chinese-tied telecom giants from operating in the United States or selling their equipment here. Their calls for further scrutiny come at a moment of tense talks between the White House and Chinese officials over tariffs the U.S. has imposed in response to the president’s claims that the existing bilateral trade relationship is unfair.
Still, the White House for more than a year has considered issuing an executive order that could allow the government to prevent American businesses from working with certain foreign suppliers — a move that could have the effect of barring Chinese firms. A spokesman for the president did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican, urged the FCC to take aim at two other Chinese carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom, that already have been granted waivers to operate in the United States. “The evidence I’ve seen in this case calls those existing authorizations into question,” he said in prepared remarks, pointing to reports that China Telecom “has been hijacking U.S. traffic and redirecting it through China.” Neither of those companies responded to a request for comment.
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