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China Security United States

China Telecom Should Be Barred in US as Threat, Agencies Say (bloomberg.com) 33

A group of U.S. security agencies is urging the Federal Communications Commission to revoke China Telecom's permission to operate in the United States. From a report: "This recommendation reflects the substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks" associated with China Telecom's access to the U.S. telecommunications network, the agencies said in a filing at the FCC. The U.S. and China are at odds over a suite of issues such as the spread of the novel coronavirus, trade, and security of telecommunications networks. U.S. officials have moved to bar Chinese gear maker Huawei Technologies as a security threat, a assertion the company denies.

Thursday's recommendation to revoke an authorization held by China Telecom since 2007 is part of a review announced last year by the FCC, as the agency barred China Mobile Ltd. from the U.S. market. The FCC usually follows recommendations from security agencies. "The threat from China Telecom is a reflection of the threat that we see from Chinese telecommunications companies generally," said John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security. "They are beholden to the government of China both by law and in fact to do its bidding."

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China Telecom Should Be Barred in US as Threat, Agencies Say

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  • I've done projects in mainland China with CT. When you are dealing with CT they are all for purposes the Chinese government. Their legal existence as a non-government entity is a paper-only sham.

    In this case I don't think CN=CT is an act of evil, however, it is the case on the ground they are effectively a government agency and they should be kept at arm's length the exact same way anyone would treat the official CN government.
  • by moxrespawn ( 6714000 ) on Thursday April 09, 2020 @05:54PM (#59926496)

    China Telecom offers U.S. customers access to international private lines, which it markets as providing secure bandwidth for sensitive data, according to the filing.

    I'd -really- like to see the customer list for this.

  • by Indy1 ( 99447 ) on Thursday April 09, 2020 @05:56PM (#59926500)

    I'm ok with that.

    https://www.spamhaus.org/stati... [spamhaus.org]

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      China Telecom isn't even on that list.

      Number 2 on that list is "google.com". When you click on it you find that it's not Google sending spam, it's people using Google Cloud resources for malware distribution or phishing. So if you are really worried about it maybe you should start by banning Google.

    • Based on what? Do you not know who China Telecom is or did you blindly post a list without checking to see if they are on it? I'm guessing it's a bit of both, that you saw the word China and went into derp derp China bad mmmkay mode.

  • ""They are beholden to the government of China both by law and in fact to do its bidding.""

    Here let me fix this for ya China Telecom is the CCP. So as long as we're cool with a or any governmental organization providing communication services in this country, why not let the commies participate.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      ""They are beholden to the government of China both by law and in fact to do its bidding.""

      So is every American company one NSL away from doing the bidding of the American government.

      For any non-US company, it is now a clear operation risk to have any American company in your business critical supply chain.

    • Ah, it's the Two Minutes Hate on China back again. I'd been missing that, apart from the endless Covid19 blame there's been none of the usual bashing of China for at least two weeks now, possibly longer.
  • Am I the only one who thinks that being involved with China has not worked out that well for the West? I respect all cultures, etc., but on balance what is the real cost of (1) melamine in our pet food, (2) additives in baby formula, (3) H1N1, (4) SARS, (5) SARS-CoV2, (6) spotted lantern flies killing trees in Pennsylvania, (7) horned beetles killing trees in Vermont, (8) whatever else I have forgotten about? Seems to me that there should be a minimum expectation of safety that should be honored by trading
    • Keep in mind that someone's forcing them to make that pet food but nobody's forcing you to buy it.
      • So there is an alternative? Because for some products, there ain't anymore.

        • My dogs eat what I eat. Don't blame China for your bad choices. And BTW, it's not McDonald's fault you're getting fat from their burgers either.
        • Meat and fish. Itâ(TM)s really couldnâ(TM)t be simpler.

          And youâ(TM)ll find out itâ(TM)s not expensive either. Youâ(TM)ll notice that on meat your dog poops and eats less while maintaining its weight just fine.

          Kibble is mostly rice and other junk that a dog canâ(TM)t even process. Itâ(TM)s optimized for your buying experience, not the dogâ(TM)s nutrition.

        • There will be - the end for the way we deal with China is on the wall.

          Japan's government announced a $2bn programme [bloomberg.com] to help companies move their manufacturing out of China and into Japan.

          there's a bit also to other poor, or even poorer countries, but spreading that work around is probably a good thing anyway.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Why do you blame those things on China? We have standards for things like baby and pet food, if we choose to allow additives that's on us.

      And trying to blame those viruses on them... H1N1 was apparently your fault, according to Wikipedia:

      In the 2009 flu pandemic, the virus isolated from patients in the United States was found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses â" North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe â" "an unusually mongrelised mix of genetic sequences."[22] This new strain appears to be a result of reassortment of human influenza and swine influenza viruses, in all four different strains of subtype H1N1.

      Preliminary genetic characterization found that the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was similar to that of swine flu viruses present in U.S. pigs since 1999, but the neuraminidase (NA) and matrix protein (M) genes resembled versions present in European swine flu isolates. The six genes from American swine flu are themselves mixtures of swine flu, bird flu, and human flu viruses.[23] While viruses with this genetic makeup had not previously been found to be circulating in humans or pigs, there is no formal national surveillance system to determine what viruses are circulating in pigs in the U.S.[24]

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • Not that Cisco or that Swiss Encryption company was pressured. Not that wireless keyboards are junk. Not the ISP modems are junk with back doors. Heartbleed and elliptic curves, The Assuage or dotKim matters, Processor flaws. CA's all being owned by American interests. Oh and soft USD loans are poisonous to the saps that went with the flow.m CALEA protocols, FISA - the list goes on. Spying on US senators. And phone calls ate up for anyone with an SDR and antenna. As Jimmy Carter said, and envelope and a st
    • Am I the only one who thinks that being involved with China has not worked out that well for the West?

      I don't know, you tell me from that rich house of yours stacked to the brim full of things which are manufactured for a small fraction of what they used to cost. I'm willing to think that yes you may be the only one who thinks national protectionism would have worked out better for everyone.

  • This recommendation reflects the substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks

    We are unhappy that this telecom company hands over all user's data to the Chinese government rather than to us.

    As a side note, the threat to a nation differs from a threat to a person. I would be far happier handing my personal information over to the Chinese government than my local one. But on the flip side any information {think of the children, terrorism bad, etc} is better handed over to the local one than the Chinese.

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