Published 02:46 IST, November 16th 2019
'Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE are security threats & cannot be trusted', says William Barr
According to US Attorney General William Barr, Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ), Chinese firm are posing as a security threat, cannot be trusted
According to the US Attorney General William Barr, Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) a Chinese firm is posing as a security threat and cannot be trusted’ as Barr supported the proposal to protect the US rural wireless carriers using an $8.5 billion government fund in order to purchase any equipment or other services from the company.
Chinese companies pose a threat to national security
Barr wrote in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission that was publicly released said considering the previous track record of the company and the various practices of the Chinese government, it is not easy to trust Huawei and ZTE. The FFC which is scheduled to vote on November 22 said it will propose the requirement of the US carriers to replace the equipment in the companies. The US Attorney further added that Huawei and ZTE are collectively a threat to national security which is evident from their actions. However, there was no immediate response from Huawei and ZTE on the US Attorney general's remarks.
US companies barred from using equipment from other companies
This year, in May the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order according to which the US declared a national emergency and asked the US companies not to invest in the outside telecommunications companies and buy equipment which poses a national security threat. According to the order, the Commerce Department was to collaborate with other government agencies and draft a plan to be implemented. The Commerce Department is yet to make the plan.
Various allegations imposed on Huawei and ZTE
William Barr during his letter also wrote that Huawei was charged with various allegations which include violations of the US embargo on Iran, obstruction of justice, trade secret threat, bank fraud. On the other hand, ZTE was reported guilty for transferring $32 million to Iran along with US goods in 2017. Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman also said that they cannot ignore the risk involved, which can be of benefit for the Chinese government who will exploit the vulnerabilities and try to engage in insertions of malware and viruses, try to espionage communication systems, which will affect the US communication networks. The US government blacklisted Huawei due to above-mentioned reasons.
Updated 08:18 IST, November 16th 2019