Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies, China Mobile Communications Group and Hikvision Visual Technology face US sanctions after a finding by the Trump administration that they are owned or controlled by China’s military, Reuters reported.
Defense Department also designates China Mobile and China Telecom as being backed by the People’s Liberation Army.
U.S. Defense Department Assessment
Huawei is owned or controlled by the Chinese military, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing an internal document from the US Defense Department. The Trump administration sent a document to Congress containing the names of 20 Chinese companies that it found to be backed by the People’s Liberation Army.
The designation by the Pentagon enables the president to declare a national emergency and then penalize the companies on the list with sanctions if they operate in the US. As well as Huawei, Axios said the list includes China Mobile Communications Group, China Telecommunications and Hikvision Digital Technology.
The list was confirmed by a senior administration official, and Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, confirmed that the Department of Defense produced a list of “communist Chinese military companies” in accordance with Section 1237 of the National Defense Authorization Act. The list contains entities owned or controlled by, or affiliated with, the Chinese government, military or defense industry.
The news follows the CIA reportedly accusing Huawei of receiving funding from China’s National Security Commission, the People’s Liberation Army, and a third branch of the Chinese state intelligence network over a year ago.
Australia Removes Huawei From 5G Networks
The Government said it would be interpreting rules announced last year as disqualifying any company that was “likely subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law”.
In a joint statement amid turmoil over the Liberal leadership, acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield also said vendors that could not adequately protect the network from interference would be ruled out.
The statement did not explicitly name Huawei, but the tech company confirmed on Twitter it had been told by the Government it would be banned.
In 2012, Chinese vendors were banned from involvement in the NBN on the advice of Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO).
UK Removes Huawei From 5G Networks
Conservative members of the United Kingdom’s government have pushed Prime Minister Boris Johnson to draw up plans to remove telecom equipment made by the Chinese manufacturer Huawei from the nation’s 5G networks by 2023, according to multiple reports.
The decision by Johnson, who wanted Huawei’s market share in the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure capped at 35 percent, brings the UK back into alignment with the position Australia and the United States have taken on Huawei’s involvement in national communications networks, according to both The Guardian and The Telegraph.
New Zealand Removes Huawei From 5G Networks
After US and Australia, New Zealand happens to be the latest country to ban Huawei from entering its country and upgrading its mobile network to 5G. Reports are in that the Mobile Company Spark was intending to use Huawei equipment to offer 5G services in the country located in Southwestern Pacific Ocean.
The Communications Security Bureau of New Zealand government dictated stringent orders early this year by banning Spark from using Huawei equipment for a 5G network upgrade.
In August this year, United States President Donald Trump released an executive order banning all equipment supplied by the Chinese manufacturers ZTE & Huawei from being used in government agencies. The order was issued based on the investigation provided by FBI that the said manufacturers were using spying software on the equipment (especially smartphones) being supplied to the United States. And those devices were sending critical info to remote servers based in Beijing.
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