Oversight of Chinese telecoms companies is lacking, US lawmakers find
- Federal agencies ‘historically exercised minimal oversight’ to safeguard US telecommunications networks, Senate subcommittee report says
- China Mobile, China Telecom, and ComNet have been operating in the US for about 20 years without ‘sufficient oversight’, it adds
The US government agencies responsible for analysing the threats Chinese telecommunications companies pose to American national security lack consistent oversight, a congressional body said on Tuesday.
Federal agencies “historically exercised minimal oversight” to safeguard US telecommunications networks, according to a report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
More efforts are needed to guard against cyber and economic espionage efforts against the US, which could be facilitated by Chinese telecoms service providers operating in the US at the behest of Beijing, the report concluded.
China Telecom, China Unicom and ComNet “have been operating in the United States for approximately 20 years, without sufficient oversight from the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] and the Executive Branch”, said the report.
“Especially when dealing with state-owned telecommunications carriers, greater controls are needed, and the administration and Congress must work together to ensure sufficient safeguards and oversight mechanisms are in place,” concluded the subcommittee, which is chaired by Senator Rob Portman, a former US trade representative.