House Report Alleges Huawei, ZTE Collaborating with Chinese Gov’t, Pose a Security Threat

Is paranoia starting to set in the American political landscape?

According to a report made by the House of Representatives’ intelligence panel that is reportedly going to be released this coming Friday, concern has been raised regarding the Huawei and ZTE, two of the largest telecommunications manufacturers in the world.  The concern is with regards to the two companies’ alleged ties to the Chinese military and government. The report states that China can use telecommunication companies for “malicious purposes.”

The report further stated that both Huawei and ZTE “cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems.”

The report did clarify that the security concerns do not involve the companies’ mobile phone and tablet products, but rather at the network infrastructure products both companies also manufacture. In fact, Huawei is the second largest manufacturer of communications infrastructure equipment.  The House of Representatives’ intelligence panel’s fear is that the Chinese government could employ Huawei infrastructure that has been installed in the US for intelligence gathering, engaging in cyberwar, or use it to shut down crucial services. The report further urges US firms to stop dealing with these two companies and instead look to other companies to address their communications infrastructure needs, going as much as to say that if firms truly care about consumer privacy then they should also care about national security.

Huawei and ZTE has, of course, denied the allegations made in the report.

Frankly, I think it’s irresponsible for the House of Representatives to do this and it also forgets one crucial reality in the 21^st century – almost everything we use is made in China. If we feed into this paranoid view then what’s next – stop the importation of products made in China because the Chinese government can use it to harm the USA? It’s absurd, to say the least.

Originally posted on October 8, 2012 @ 9:53 pm