New sales of Huawei equipment in US banned due to a ‘unacceptable danger’ to national security
The newest crackdown on Chinese tech titans includes a ban on telecommunications gear from companies including ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision due to surveillance concerns.
Since Huawei Technologies and ZTE, both based in China, represent “an intolerable risk” to US national security, the Biden administration has forbidden the certification of their new telecommunications equipment.
On Friday, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it had adopted the rules, which prohibit the sale or import of equipment made by Chinese surveillance equipment manufacturer Dahua Technology, video surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and telecoms company Hytera Communications Corp.
The action is the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Trump administration on Chinese tech firms over concerns that Beijing is using them to spy on the United States.
“These new rules are an important component of our ongoing activities to safeguard the American people from national security dangers affecting telecommunications,” said FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement.
Huawei opted not to make a statement. There was no quick response to demands for comment from ZTE, Dahua, Hytera, or the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
In a statement, Hikvision assured Americans that its goods posed no security risk.
According to Hikvision, “this decision by the FCC will do nothing to protect US national security, but will do a great deal to make it more harmful and more expensive for US small businesses, local authorities, school districts, and individual consumers to protect themselves, their homes, their businesses, and their property.”
According to the company, it would continue to serve US consumers “in complete compliance” with US legislation.
Last month, Rosenworcel rounded together the other three commissioners for a vote on her proposed move, which would prevent the companies from selling new equipment in the United States.
In June 2021, the FCC announced that it was contemplating a blanket prohibition on equipment authorizations for the named entities.
In March of 2021, five Chinese companies—Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp, Hikvision, and Dahua—were designated as national security threats under a 2019 law enacted to defend US communications networks.
Two Republican and two Democratic commissioners backed the agency’s move on Friday.
The government body claimed it could rescind previous approvals but chose not to.
Source: The Guardian
