The US telecommunications watchdog on Tuesday designated two Chinese companies – Huawei Technologies and ZTE – as security threats and banned American firms from using a fund to purchase their products, reported the South China Morning Post.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement: “Based on the overwhelming weight of evidence,” the agency has identified the two companies as well as their parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries “as national security risks to America’s communications networks – and to our 5G future”.
“Both companies have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus, and both companies are broadly subject to Chinese law obligating them to cooperate with the country’s intelligence services,” said Pai.
American tech firms will not be authorized to use money from the FCC’s annual $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund to purchase or support any equipment or services provided by these suppliers, effective immediately.
