China's commerce ministry criticized the U.S. decision to ban new sales of telecommunications equipment made by five Chinese firms due to national security risks and demanded that they be allowed to sell their products to American consumers.
The provisions of the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 have been removed from the U.S. by the Federal Communications Commission last week, which prohibits five Chinese telecom firms from selling new products in the U.S.
The FCC has banned all imports of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment produced by Huawei and ZTE or their affiliates. It also put a hold on sales of surveillance equipment made by Dahua and Hikvision along with two-way radios made by Hytera. The hold will be in place until the companies verify to the FCC that their products won't be sold or marketed for public safety or national security purposes, securing government facilities, or for surveillance of critical infrastructure.
At a press conference held on Thursday, Shu Jueting, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson, urged the US to correct its wrong practices and stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues by treating Chinese companies fairly.
The restrictions hurt U.S. businesses and consumers in addition to undermining international trade, and warned that China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of domestic firms. After the FCC decision, both Huawei and ZTE denied their claims that their technologies could be used to spy on American consumers and pose a threat to U.S. national security.
Security officials in the U.S. and Europe have warned that the devices produced by those firms and other Chinese companies could be used to spy and further corporate espionage.
The FCC's decision to ban new import authorizations for the five Chinese telecom firms was unanimously approved by all four commissioners, which are divided into Democratic and Republican appointees.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said in a statement that The FCC is committed to protecting national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here. The decision was made by Commissioner Brendan Carr, a GOP appointee, the first time in the history of the FCC that we have voted to prohibit the authorization of new equipment based on national security concerns. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle who wrote the Secure Equipment Act echoed the commissioners' praise for the decision. Senator Marco Rubio R-FL said the FCC's move will help ensure that critical American infrastructure is protected from Chinese exploitation. At the same time, Sen. Ed Markey D-MA said that these protections are essential to ensuring that our communications networks are safe and secure.