The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have ordered China Telecom Americas to stop supplying telecoms services in the US due to national security concerns, reports the South China Morning Post. The move gives the unit 60 days to end its domestic and international service in the US. The order required the company to explain why the US government’s concerns were unfounded or risk losing its operating license.
“China Telecom Americas’ ownership and control raised significant national security and law enforcement risks, providing opportunities for China Telecom Americas, its parent entities and the Chinese government to access, store, disrupt and/or … misroute US communications, allowing espionage and other harmful activities against the United States,” said Gabrielle Kim, a legal adviser in the telecommunications and analysis division of the FCC’s international bureau.
Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, whom Joe Biden nominated on Tuesday to permanently fill the post, said in the hearing that the Chinese company “has not been forthright in its representations” to the agency.