Chinese tech giant Huawei is still a threat to U.S. national security, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held in a unanimous, bipartisan vote Thursday.
Huawei had sought to appeal the FCC’s June order designating the company as a threat, but the FCC’s 5-member board voted down the request. Huawei is among China’s largest tech companies and is at the forefront of the nation’s effort to build other nations’ 5G networks.
The FCC’s June order also applied to the Chinese company ZTE, though it does not appear to have appealed the ruling. (RELATED: Report Reveals Role Huawei Had In Transporting US Tech To Iran)
Under Chairman @AjitPaiFCC’s leadership, the @FCC has shown the strength and resolve to address the serious threats posed by @Huawei
Today, we took additional action against them to ensure our national security. https://t.co/FfEy8DUgnO
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) December 10, 2020
.@Huawei remains a US security threat, @FCC ruling 5-0 in upholding its staff. https://t.co/AuHqQtLDx8 pic.twitter.com/TtnwljiyFa
— Jonathan Make (@makejdm) December 10, 2020
President Donald Trump’s administration has had Huawei in its sights for years, identifying it as one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most effective tools in breaching other nations’ data systems. The United Kingdom contracted Huawei to build parts of its own 5G system in 2019, leading the U.S. to warn that doing so would limit the intelligence the U.S. would be willing to share with its closest ally.
The U.K. reconsidered its contract in July, banning all Huawei equipment from its 5G network.
“By the time of the next election, we will have implemented in law an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks,” U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said at the time. “Given the uncertainty…around Huawei’s supply chain, the U.K. can no longer be confident it will be able to guarantee the security of future Huawei 5G equipment.”
Like all Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, making any dealings with them questionable. Within the past four years alone, the CCP has ended democracy in Hong Kong and imprisoned millions of Uighur Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang.