Wednesday October 27, 2021
“Significant” security risk
USA ban China Telecom from the market
The US subsidiary of China Telecom has been active on the American market for almost 20 years. Now Washington is withdrawing the license from the telecommunications provider – for fear of espionage. The group has to withdraw from the market within 60 days.
Because of “significant” national security concerns, Washington has banned Chinese telecommunications provider China Telecom from the US market. The network agency Federal Communications Commission (FCC) instructed the group to cease its services within 60 days. The largest Chinese telecommunications provider with more than 335 million customers worldwide has now been active in the USA for almost 20 years and described the decision as “disappointing”.
The Chinese government’s ownership and control of the company “posed a significant risk to national security and law enforcement,” the FCC said. This gives Beijing the possibility of “accessing US communications” and, among other things, “disrupting” them or using them for espionage.
The move to ban the company, which has been on the US market for almost 20 years, is likely to put a further strain on the already strained relations between China and the USA. The US Department of Justice had already threatened in April of last year to end China Telecom’s business in the US. The previous FCC approval for China Telecom was contrary to the public interest, the Justice Ministry said at the time.
In the USA, distrust of China and Chinese technology groups has grown in recent years. This applies particularly to the telecommunications group Huawei, which is leading in 5G network expansion. Washington fears cyber attacks and industrial espionage.