US Senators have now called for a new review on two state-owned Chinese telecommunications companies to determine if they should be allowed to continue to operate in the country. The senators singled out China Telecom and China Unicom, citing possible security concerns.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Tom Cotton reportedly submitted a request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a review on the two companies. The senators requested the FCC to investigate its previous approvals for the companies to operate in the United States. The same letter was also reportedly sent to the US Department of Defense and homeland security.
China Telecom responded to the news by stating that it had been providing telecommunications services to US citizens and corporations for over 20 years.
China Telecom insists that it treats its customer's data security very seriously and that it has had a solid reputation in the United States since it began providing the service in the country. China Unicom echoed the same sentiments, stating that it has strictly complied with all international and local laws and regulations.
In their request letter, the senators stated that they were concerned about the access the companies had on the nation's telephone lines, cellular networks, and fiber optic cables.
It was implied that the Chinese government could gain access to those networks from the companies, essentially giving it the ability to spy on American communications. This will apparently give China an advantage over US businesses and its government if they were to choose to "hijack" the traffic from the Chinese telecom companies.
Prior to the senators' request, the FCC had voted in May that they will be denying China Mobile the ability to operate in the United States. The FCC reasoned that it had reason to believe that the Chinese firm could be used by the Chinese government to conduct espionage against the United States. FCC chairman Ajit Pai revealed during that time that the FCC was planning to launch further reviews on other Chinese companies.
China Mobile originally sought approval from the FCC in 2011 to provide interconnection services used for international phone calls from the US to other countries. The FCC denied the application in May in a 5-0 vote.
The move by the FCC and the politicians are very similar to the recent ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies back in May.
The ban was part of US President Donald Trump's broader agenda, which had sprung from the country's continued trade dispute with China. The US has since eased its sanctions on Huawei, granting an extended reprieve that allowed the Chinese firm to continue buying components from US companies.
