The US government”s latest attempt to curb Chinese telecom and tech companies will have limited impact on their business, but the move once again shows that Washington is abusing the scope of national security, experts said on Monday.
The comments came after the US Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it would ban the import of more equipment from a group of Chinese manufacturers.
The move expands an FCC ban imposed in 2022 on new models of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment made by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua, citing alleged US national security risks.
Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the US government has been abusing the national security concept to contain the rise of Chinese tech companies.
It is mixing politics with normal business cooperation, and such practices will ultimately harm the rights and interests of US consumers, Bai said.
Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said this is the latest move by Washington to crack down on Chinese-made electronic gear.
The above Chinese companies now have very limited business presence in the US, and the latest ban barely harms their actual operations.
“Rather, it speaks more loudly about the US government’s political motives,” Xiang added.
According to a report by Reuters, the latest ban now includes old models, not just those designed starting in late 2022, of equipment used for “public safety, security of government facilities, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes,” the FCC said.
The expanded ban is set to take effect in early July.
The FCC has rolled out a series of restrictive measures targeting Chinese technology. In December, it imposed a ban on imports of all new models of Chinese-made drones.
In March, it extended the restrictions to cover new models of Chinese-manufactured consumer routers — the networking devices that connect computers, smartphones, and other smart gadgets to the internet.
China’s Ministry of Commerce expressed firm opposition in May to the US FCC’s proposed restrictive measures against Chinese entities, urging Washington to stop its wrongful practices and respect market rules.
The FCC voted to advance measures last month that would revoke the qualifications of testing and certification bodies from countries without a mutual recognition agreement with the United States, and prohibit entities on its “Covered List” from conducting telecommunications business in the US.
In response, a spokesperson for the ministry stated that the FCC has abandoned the principle of technological neutrality and overstretched the concept of national security.
Without factual basis, the US has frequently introduced restrictive measures that discriminatorily treat enterprises and products from other countries, including China, severely damaging the interests of China and other relevant trading partners, the ministry said.
These measures undermine the hard-won stability of Sino-US economic and trade relations, and run counter to the consensus reached by the two heads of state, the spokesperson added.
The ministry urged the US to heed the voices of the industry and revoke the relevant measures.
masi@chinadaily.com.cn
