WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Republican Senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would block the US government from buying or leasing telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies or ZTE, citing concern the Chinese companies would use their access to spy on US officials.
“Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government, and it’s more than capable of stealing information from US officials by hacking its devices,” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said. “There are plenty of other companies that can meet our technology needs, and we shouldn’t make it any easier for China to spy on us,” he added.
The companies did not immediately return calls seeking comment. In 2012, both firms were the subject of a US investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical US infrastructure – something they have consistently denied.
The bill, which Cotton introduced together with Florida Senator Marco Rubio, is similar to one introduced in January by two Republican lawmakers in the House, Representatives Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has taken a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing’s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire US strategic industries.
Earlier this year, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told Reuters.
The US government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns, including Ant Financial’s proposed purchase of US money transfer company MoneyGram International.
The lawmakers are also advising US companies that if they have ties to Huawei or telecom operator China Mobile, it could hamper their ability to do business with the US government, one aide said.
The aide requested anonymity to discuss the matter without being authorized to speak publicly.
(Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Tom Brown)
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